Government Executive Magazine - 9/1/00 Study debunks myth of violent Postal Service

There's no need for postal workers to walk around on pins and needles in fear of workplace violence, according to a study released Thursday by a special Postal Service commission.

The study, which took two years to complete and cost almost $4 million, found that postal workers are no more susceptible to violence than the rest of America's workforce, and concluded that the phrase "Going postal" is merely a myth.

" 'Going postal' is a bad rap; it's just not true," said Joseph Califano, chairman of the six-member United States Postal Service Commission on a Safe and Secure Workplace. "There is no safer place you could work at in America, or be, than in a postal facility.

According to the study, which closely examined the 29 postal murders that occurred between 1986 and 1999, postal employees are only one-third as likely as other employees to be murdered at work. Retail workers carry the greatest chance of being killed in the workplace.

But the study did find that postal workers believe they are more at risk of workplace violence than their counterparts in other industries. And though highly publicized murders in postal facilities pushed the USPS to create what is now the most advanced, comprehensive and widely disseminated workplace violence prevention program in government, the report shows that most postal employees do not think their employer has taken sufficient action to protect them from workplace violence.

"I would not call this a clean bill of health for postal employee relations," said Postmaster General William J. Henderson, who established the commission in 1998.

Henderson said the report's recommendations will help in improving labor-management relations. It will "make sure no worker is denied justice and no manager is not held accountable for his or her actions," he said.

Recommendations from the report include stepping up the current violence prevention program, improving job applicant screening, increasing training to improve the interpersonal skills of managers and overhauling the dispute resolution process.

Commission members said they anticipate the report will be used as a template for other businesses to establish workplace violence prevention measures.

The Postal Service is the second largest civilian employer in the country, delivering nearly 3.4 billion pieces of mail weekly.