US Postal Service Fined $220K For Carson Safety Hazards

CARSON (CBS) — Labor regulators fined the U.S. Postal Service $220,000 for electrical hazards at its Los Angeles International Service Center in Carson, it was announced Tuesday.

The USPS employs 488 people at the plant at 21750 Arnold Center Road.

"These fines are a reflection of a blatant disregard for the safety of workers, as the Postal Service continues to neglect vital workplace safety measures," said David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. "In doing so, it is knowingly putting employees at a definite risk of injury and death."

The violations stems from an OSHA inspection, which began June 2.

Inspectors said USPS workers failed to de-energize parts of machines before they were worked on, exposing them to electrical shocks or arc blasts, the agency said.

Postal service officials failed to do shock hazard or flash hazard analyses before doing the work, and did not provide workers with the right protection, according to OSHA.

Other violations included failure to maintain clean and orderly working conditions, provide guardrails on platforms at least 4 feet off the floor, maintain fixed metal ladders, maintain aisles and passageways, properly mark circuit breakers and provide adequate training.

The USPS has 15 business days from receipt of these citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA, or contest the findings before an independent commission.

(©2010 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)