Last
year 6,549 postal employees were attacked by dogs. During National Dog Bite
Prevention Week (May 15-21), the Postal Service announced new safety
initiatives to help protect employees.
The
new Package Pickup application is available on usps.com. Customers will be asked to indicate if there
is a dog at their address when they schedule a package pickup. With another new initiative, letter carriers
will be able to indicate the presence of a dog at an
individual address. This is especially helpful for substitutes who deliver when
the regular carrier is off.
On
May 16, the Mobile Delivery Device (MDD) was updated with a new Hazard Alert
feature. A Hazard Alert is a warning response system to disseminate information
if a carrier enters a geo fence around a reported hazard. While carriers are on street delivery, the
MDD prompts them with the alert when they are within the geographic vicinity of
the hazard.
Beginning
now, carriers should report any of the following repeated hazards to the
supervisor, so they can be recorded in RIMS Hazard Alert application and
downloaded to the MDD.
·
Dangerous
Animal
·
Trip
Hazard
·
Slick
Surface Hazard
A/Safety
Specialist, Ruth E Von Gunten-Persad (center) explains the MDD features to
Estero Rural Carrier Lisa Suchomel (right) and Rural Carrier Associate Jess
Tucker Estero (left). All hazards that have been loaded into the RIMS and MDD
database will be available for any carrier logged into an MDD with the same
route number as the hazard location.
When
a carrier enters the geo fence of the known hazard they will receive an alert
and voice message notifying them of the approaching hazard. The audible
announcement reads as “Attention a ‘Hazard Type’ alert has been reported in
your area.” The carrier can view details
or press escape to return back to previous screen. (Note: ‘Hazard Type’ will be
replaced by “Trip Hazard”, “Slick Surface” or “Dog or Animal” depending on the
actual hazard type.)
