By By KATHIE HEMPEL / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Niles branch of the U.S. Postal Service is delivering some good news.
Niles post office employees have earned the coveted Occupational Safety and Health Associations' Voluntary Protection Program Merit Award.
The award was presented this morning at the post office.
"I am very proud of our employees. This is a major accomplishment and they all came together to make it happen," Postmaster Tom Principe said.
Niles employees earned the award by expanding the local Safety and Health Committee, recruiting additional CPR/AED/First Aid providers, increasing the number of Emergency Evacuation Team members and placing more emphasis on the need to identify hazardous mailings.
In addition, some of the local employees wrote, directed and produced a safety video while others worked to enlarge and improve the safety bulletin board. Still others worked to improve the appearance of the building inside and out.
The application for the award is a major undertaking. Requirements include a comprehensive management system where employees are actively involved in anticipating, recognizing, evaluating and controlling the potential safety and health hazards in the workplace.
The Voluntary Protection Program emphasizes efforts by managers, craft employees and union representatives to identify and eliminate injuries and eliminate unsafe working conditions and practices to reduce the number and severity of job related injuries and illnesses.
The Postal Service was the first federal entity accepted into Occupational Safety and Health Associations' corporate pilot program with currently more than 26 worksites participating.