USPS mail processing center again cited by OSHA for fire extinguisher, electrical violations at St. Louis facility

Employer name: United States Postal Service

Investigation site: 1720 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Jan.13, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated an inspection of a United States Postal Service mail processing site after receiving a complaint alleging unsafe working conditions at the facility.

Investigation findings: Investigators found blocked portable fire extinguishers, alarm systems and electrical equipment such as circuit breaker boxes and transformers throughout the ground floor of the mail center. OSHA issued two repeated safety violations

"These hazards found throughout the mail center are completely unacceptable. The threat of fire inside this structure exists and set procedures to safeguard this equipment must be continuously monitored and enforced," said Bill McDonald, OSHA's area director in St. Louis. "Employers that are cited for so many safety violations repeatedly demonstrate a lack of commitment to employee safety and health."

OSHA previously cited the same facility for these violations in 2014. OSHA issues repeated violations when an employer has been previously cited for the same or a similar violation in the past five years.

Proposed Penalties: $45,000

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's St. Louis Area Office at 314-425-4249.