The Postal Service recently honored five districts and one area with its first annual Safety Leadership and Vision Awards.
During a ceremony Oct. 31 at USPS headquarters in Washington, DC, awards were presented to representatives from Appalachian, Greater Boston, Northern New England, Northern Virginia and Westchester districts and Northeast Area.
The awards honor districts and areas that exceed requirements in maintaining safe workplaces, based on criteria such as reducing accident rates and improving performance compared to the same period one year earlier.
“This is really about a personal leadership commitment to value our employees and to value their safety,” said Chief Human Resources Officer Isaac Cronkhite.
Award recipients shared best practices during the event, including creating “storyboards” that help employees visualize safety concepts, performing “gemba walks” to identify problems and solutions, offering positive recognition of safe work practices, and taking a team approach to safety.
“Safety starts with buy-in,” said Appalachian District Manager Leeann Theriault. “You need more people to get involved. I always keep employee safety at the front of everything.”
Acting Northern Virginia District Manager Tammy Edwards said employees, managers and supervisors must work together to create a safety culture.
“If everyone comes together, we can make this happen,” she said.
New England District Manager Regina Bugbee added: “Communication about safety should be positive and shared daily. Letting our employees know that we really care about them is the most important safety message of all.”