Staff Writer

It is the case of the feds fining the feds.

A federal Labor Department official said Tuesday he had not learned of any response to proposed fines for unsafe working conditions at the local United States Postal Service Processing and Distribution Center.

Ted Fitzgerald, spokesman for the labor department’s Boston office said postal service officials had 15 days to respond to seven citations and proposed fines of $430,000 related to a December inspection.

Fitzgerald said he was not aware of any injuries caused by “a lack of training and knowledge about working with live electrical equipment” cited by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors.

Tom Rizzo, a spokesman for the postal service’s Northern New England District, declined to comment beyond a press release where he defended the postal service safety record.

“We will review OSHA’s concerns and make necessary adjustments to continue to ensure a safe working environment for our employees,” Rizzo said. 

The citations list six “willful” and one “repeat” violation centered largely on “the postal service’s failure to equip its workers with the necessary knowledge and skills to safely work with live electrical parts,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels in a press release.

The six “willful” violations are the most severe category used by OSHA and carry maximum potential fines of $70,000 each, Fitzgerald said.

Those violations stem from workers without proper training or safety equipment working with and around sorting equipment while exposed to live electrical currents, according to the citation notice.

Employees at the 243,000-square-foot processing center off Mussey Road, including technicians and maintenance mechanics, were unaware of shock, arc blast and arc flash hazards and the processing center lack proper warning signs, the citation charges.

Postal officials said the processing plant in Scarborough opened in 2006 and employs about 500 union employees.

The willful designation was made because OSHA inspectors believed violations showed “plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health,” according to the release.

The repeat violation occurred because pallets, pallet jacks and letter trays were stored in front of safety and disconnect switches, similar to a violation discovered at a postal processing plant in Toledo, Ohio, in 2007.

Rizzo cited Bureau of Labor statistics establishing the postal service as twice as safe as other delivery organizations and noted more than 5,800 employees have driven a million miles without an accident.

“One accident, or the potential for one accident — on the road, in a post office or a mail processing plant — is one too many,” Rizzo said.

The citations require the situations to be remedied by Dec. 25. Fitzgerald said the time period allows for the training needed to help abate the violations.

A written formal complaint from an employee received by OSHA officials led to an inspection that began last December, Fitzgerald said.

Postal service officials now have the option to pay the fines, meet with OSHA to discuss mitigating circumstances and improvements already made, or contest the inspection findings with an independent review commission, Fitzgerald said.

Data at the OSHA website shows more than 2,300 complaints made against the postal service nationwide since 2000. Since 2008, 405 complaints resulted in 136 violations nationwide.

Proposed fines are frequently reduced after meetings with OSHA officials or hearings with the review commission according to complaint logs at the website.

Most recently, $29,000 in fines against a post office in Waterloo, Iowa, were reduced to $12,500 on four violations including improper “maintenance, safeguarding and operational features for exit routes.”

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219