Judge dismisses OSHA citations, fine against USPS
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An Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission administrative law judge Wednesday dismissed three citations and a total penalty of $148,137 against the U.S. Postal Service, saying alleged violations at a mail-sorting facility in Portland, Oregon, were unproven.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspected the facility beginning in 2021 following an employee complaint that stated USPS had allowed at least six nonqualified employees to complete maintenance on machinery.
After taking testimony from 17 employees, OSHA cited USPS for three serious violations, alleging a lack of training on lock-out/tag-out procedures and machine guarding and that a lock-out/tag-out device had been removed from machinery.
The judge, in vacating the three separate citations, found that the Secretary of Labor failed to apply the correct standards and did not prove the cited violations occurred, according to the ruling in Secretary of Labor v. U.S. Postal Service, dba Portland Processing and Distribution Center.
The judge said much of the evidence was insufficient, noting that in one instance a photograph was presented as evidence that a safety device had been removed.
“This evidence does not establish that (USPS) … operated without the guard in place; the evidence establishes only that the guard was not in place during OSHA’s inspection,” the judge wrote.
