The EAP National Joint Committee, from left to right: Susan Carney APWU; Brian Hellman, NALC; Sandy Savoie, USPS; Deborah Atkins, USPS.

November 2008 is a month to reflect on and take pride in the history and achievements of the Postal Service’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

On November 12, 1968, in San Francisco, CA, the first office became available to help those in the Postal Service dealing with alcoholism, it was called the Program for Alcoholic Recovery (PAR).

From those humble beginnings has come a state-of-the-art and awarding winning EAP.

The EAP is now a free, voluntary, and confidential program that offers assessment, referral, short-term counseling, and work/life consultation to postal employees and their families. The EAP can help you resolve your personal concerns, so you can be your best at work and at home. The EAP is designed to assist in the identification and resolution of personal, family, and workplace concerns.

In this milestone month, we are proud to announce the receipt of an award from the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA). On October 18 th, 2008, EAPA held their Awards Luncheon at the Annual World EAP Conference in Atlanta, GA. It was announced that the Postal Service was nominated and selected for the Ross Von Weigand Award, which honors a labor/management Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that exemplifies exceptional cooperation and working relationship. 

With the cold weather fast approaching, I thought it would be a good idea to share some information on staying safe in freezing temperatures. OSHA has published an easy-to-understand guide to the Cold Stress Equation, which you can find here. At a quick glance, you can learn the the risks of working in specific cold temperatures.

The following Q&A is from an OSHA booklet on the Cold Stress Equation and will help you to better understand these risks.

Frostbite—What happens to the body:

• Freezing in deep layers of skin and tissue; pale, waxy-white skin color; skin becomes hard and numb; usually affects the fingers, hands, toes, feet, ears and nose.

What should be done:

• Move the person to a warm, dry area. Don’t leave the person alone.
• Remove any wet or tight clothing that may cut off blood flow to the affected area.
• Do not rub the affected area; rubbing causes damage to the skin and tissue.
• Gently place the affected area in a warm (105 F) water bath and monitor the water temperature to slowly warm the tissue. Don’t pour warm water directly on the affected area because it will warm the tissue too fast causing tissue damage. Warming takes about 25-40 minutes.
• After the affected area has been warmed, it may become puffy and blister. The affected area may have a burning feeling or numbness. When normal feeling, movement and skin color have returned, the affected area should be dried and wrapped to keep it warm. Note: If there is a chance the affected area may get cold again, do not warm the skin. If the skin is warmed and then becomes cold again, it will cause severe tissue damage.
• Seek medical attention as soon as possible.

Hypothermia—What happens to the body:

• Normal body temperature (98.6 F) drops to or below 95 degrees; fatigue or drowsiness; uncontrolled shivering; cool bluish skin; slurred speech; clumsy movements; irritable, irrational or confused behavior.

What should be done:

• Call for emergency help (i.e., ambulance or call 911).
• Move the person to a warm, dry area. Don’t leave the person alone. Remove any wet clothing and replace with warm, dry clothing or wrap the person in blankets.
• Have the person drink warm, sweet drinks (sugar water or sports-type drinks) if they are alert.
• Avoid drinks with caffeine (coffee, tea, or hot chocolate) or alcohol.
• Have the person move their arms and legs to create muscle heat. If they are unable to do this, place warm bottles or hot packs in the arm pits, groin, neck and head areas. Do not rub the person’s body or place them in warm water bath. This may stop their heart.

How to protect workers :

• Recognize the environmental and workplace conditions that lead to potential cold-induced illnesses and injuries.
• Learn the signs and symptoms of cold-induced illnesses/injuries and what to do to help the worker.
• Select proper clothing for cold, wet and windy conditions. Layer clothing to adjust to changing environmental temperatures. Wear a hat and gloves, in addition to underwear that will keep water away from the skin (polypropylene).
• Avoid exhaustion or fatigue because energy is needed to keep muscles warm.
• Drink warm, sweet beverages (sugar water, sports-type drinks). Avoid drinks with caffeine (coffee, tea or hot chocolate) or alcohol.
• Eat warm, high-calorie foods like hot pasta dishes.

The US Postal Service implemented Protective Measures in accordance with the national threat level to the "elevated" or yellow level.

These protective measures will remain in effect until further notice. All managers will give Mandatory Standup Talks on the change in the national threat level and associated protective measures to all available employees beginning immediately and repeating as necessary until all employees have received this message.

The 2006-2011 National Agreement provides annual increases to take effect on the employee’s anniversary date.

There will be three additional increases through the remainder of this contract:

• Effective November 21, 2008, the annual allowance for all eligible employees shall be increased from $345 per annum to $353. The increase shall become effective on the employee’s anniversary date.
• Effective November 21, 2009, the annual allowance for all eligible employees shall be increased from $353 per annum to $362. The increase shall become effective on the employee’s anniversary date.
• Effective November 21, 2010, the annual allowance for all eligible employees shall be increased from $362 per annum to $371. The increase shall become effective on the employee’s anniversary date.

Newly eligible employees entering the reimbursable uniform program will receive an additional credit to the employee’s allowance as follows:

• Effective November 21, 2006: $78, if entitled to the $336 per annum.
• Effective November 21, 2007: $80, if entitled to the $345 per annum.
• Effective November 21, 2008: $82, if entitled to the $353 per annum.
• Effective November 21, 2009: $84, if entitled to the $362 per annum.
• Effective November 21, 2010: $86, if entitled to the $371 per annum.

More Information
	All About OSHA—the Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Some tips on avoiding heat-related problems, and the symptoms of—and necessary action to take for—heat exhaustion and heat stroke. More

Working in Hot Environments, a 15-page booklet, is available for download here from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. You can also order the free booklet by calling 800-35-NIOSH (800-356-4674).

The White House and the Homeland Security Council have released a National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. You can download the Executive Summary or the entire Implementation Plan at right. (Both documents are Adobe PDF.)

More Information

Executive Summary (564 KB)   Implementation Plan (2.5 MB)

Also, at PandemicFlu.gov, there is information on how to prepare for a pandemic, such as SARS, what to do if one strikes, as well as the ability to monitor outbreaks.

The USPS is currently creating an operation plan to deal with a pandemic if one should occur.

Pandemic Mitigation

The best protection against pandemic influenza—a vaccine that is well-matched to the virus causing illness—is not likely to be available at the outset of a pandemic. Community strategies that do not involve vaccines or medications (also called non-pharmaceutical interventions) may serve as a first line of defense to help delay or mitigate the spread of influenza.

Mitigation guidelines issued by the CDC (February 2007) include social distancing strategies to reduce contact between people:

• closing schools
• canceling public gatherings
• planning for liberal work leave policies
• teleworking strategies
• voluntary isolation of cases
• voluntary quarantine of household contacts

The guidance was developed through a collaborative process that included public health officials, mathematical modelers, researchers, and stakeholders from government, academia, private industry, education, and civic and faith-based organizations. It will be refined as needed based on further knowledge gained from research, exercises, and practical experience.

The full document: Interim Pre-pandemic Planning Guidance: Community Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Mitigation in the United States - Early Targeted Layered use of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions is available at: Community Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Mitigation (PDF - 2.51 MB)

NALC Director of Safety & Health Brian Hellman advises members that the Postal Service has developed a basic Emergency Notification Plan for Off-Site Employees. The plan provides guidance for post offices and postal facilities in establishing basic notification procedures to contact postal employees working on the street or out of the office in the event of a local or national emergency.

Hellman points out that this "notification tree" or "buddy-system" plan was developed with the assistance of the NALC, NRLCA and APWU. It describes one alternative that postal facilities can use to notifying employees of emergency situations. These procedures can also serve as a backup plan in case other communication methods such as telephones, pagers, electronic communications, etc. are not available or not functioning.

"Remember," Hellman reminds letter carriers, "it is knowledge, awareness and an understanding of both the local area where you deliver the mail and the current postal and public emergency procedures that will make it possible to act effectively in a crisis situation."

A pilot program involving the establishment of District Safety Committees will be expanded under a new Memorandum of Understanding. The parties have agreed to further test district safety committees in each area during the term of the 2006-2011 National Agreement.

Under the test program, district safety committees will be phased in incrementally and will consiste of two members from each party. The committees will meet quarterly and are responsible for assisting in implementing district-wide safety initiatives, facilitating communication between area and local safety committees, and assisting local committees. The USPS/NALC National Safety Committee will create guidelines for district committees.

"The parties agree that nothing in the MOU is intended to add to or detract from management or union rights as found in the National Agreement," the MOU states.

NALC's Director of Safety and Health, Brian Hellman wants letter carriers to know the Postal Service has issued Tabletop Exercise Guides and a Checklist to ensure that a consistent and reasoned response is followed when suspicious powder is found in the mail.

To make sure that the responses remain consistent and protective, the Postal Service is requiring operations managers, supervisors, support staff and postmasters to become familiar with the procedures by conducting tabletop exercises. (See chart for links to the USPS Suspicious Powder materials.)

Hellman advises NALC branch leaders to learn about exercises being conducted in their own post office(s), to request they be invited to participate in the local exercises and to inform NALC members about the new response procedures instituted to protect the safety of all letter carriers.

NALC branches:
Make sure this directive is carried out in all your postal facilities!

Magellan Behavioral Health, the contractor providing the Postal Service with Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) services, has created a free, informative, new website for postal employees. Letter carriers may join the site by surfing to EAP4you.com, clicking "New User," entering 800-327-4968 and registering with an anonymous user name and password.

The site contains a huge storehouse of up-to-date health and wellness information on everything from coping with workplace stress, to child and elder care, to time and money management, to learning the warning signs of substance abuse. It also offers an "ask the expert" section for customized advice, anonymous self-screening tools for such problems as depression and alcohol abuse, and a wealth of links to Internet resources on all things related to personal or family health.

NALC's Director of of Safety and Health is responsible for following safety and health issues that relate to letter carrier jobs. The current director is Brian Hellman, who also represents NALC's interests on:

• the National Joint Labor-Management Safety Committee established by Article 14, Section 3 of the National Agreement, and
• the National Joint Labor-Management Uniform Control Committee established by Article 26
• the National Joint EAP Committee established by Article 35.

Letter carriers' occupational safety and health is protected by Article 14 of the National Agreement and by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (see the OSHA page).