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Caught in the act

Best Practices: Promoting safety

Safety
Appalachian District Manager Leeann Theriault displays one of the shirts used to recognize employees through the Caught in the Act of Safety program.

Appalachian District Manager Leeann Theriault was taking an operations training class last year when she found inspiration for a new safety awards program.

“Someone from Los Angeles gave us cards to give to our classmates who were doing well,” she says.

From that sprang the Caught in the Act of Safety Awards.

The program aims to improve workplace interactions by requiring managers to identify employees working safely and provide them with a card to recognize their efforts. Each month, all cards are placed into a drawing for a USPS polo shirt, and awardees also are photographed with the leadership team for Appalachian District’s newspaper.

The district’s seven Post Office operations managers and two plant managers each give out about 10-15 cards every month. The district, part of Eastern Area, has 800 Post Offices and about 6,800 employees.

Theriault points to safety data as proof that the program is working. So far in fiscal 2019, the district has reduced total accidents by 29.8 percent compared to the same period one year earlier, and its total accident rate and safety improvement record make it a national leader among postal districts.

Says Theriault: “We spent a lot time and effort and hours with safety. The more we spend with awareness and training saves us in the long run. It’s a win for us.”

“Best Practices,” a series on employees who demonstrate on-the-job excellence, appears regularly in Link.

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