A worker’s heat-related fatality last summer in Southern California has resulted in citations against the U.S. Postal Service for a repeated violation of OSHA’s General Duty Clause.
The employee suffered hyperthermia while delivering mail in July 2018 when the outdoor temperature reached 117 degrees. The general duty violation addresses USPS’s programs and procedures for employees working in high-heat situations. The postal service was also cited for a repeated violation of recordkeeping requirements related to recording heat stress incidents. Proposed penalties total $149,664.