Two members of Congress from Texas are pushing for a public hearing with the U.S. Postal Service to address employee heat-related illnesses and deaths.
The call to action comes just months after the death of an employee due to heat exposure. In June of this year, 66-year-old Eugene Gates, a 36-year-long employee of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), collapsed and died in front of his Lakewood residence. The “oppressive heat” experienced that day was thought to have contributed to his death, with the heat index on the day reaching 115 degrees, the highest it hit since 1980, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The USPS created the Heat Illness Prevention Program (HIPP) to help reduce occurrences of heat-related injuries. However, lawmakers are seeking more oversight.
Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), Greg Casar (D-TX), and Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) issued a letter to Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, on December 19, urging for a hearing to determine whether the USPS’s efforts were sufficient.
This letter followed a July 7 letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy regarding Gates’ death and a follow-up letter on October 12 after an autopsy confirmed that heat had been a related cause of death, according to the press release.
“We are deeply troubled by reports of unsafe working conditions driven by extreme heat and inadequate workplace safety procedures at the U.S. Postal Service,” wrote the lawmakers in the latest letter.
“We urge you to convene a full Committee hearing to examine the Postal Service’s efforts to reduce the incidence of heat-related injury and protect Postal Service employees from extreme heat conditions, which is even more critical as we face a global climate emergency and repeated extreme weather events.”
The letter also referenced reports and investigations by Politico that alleged the existence of falsified staff training records involving heat sickness.
As temperatures rise, letter carriers nationwide could be increasingly vulnerable to heat-related illness and injury. “As of 2021, Postal Service employees were more likely to face heat-related injury than by motor-vehicle accidents or animal bites,” reads the letter.
“We are facing a global climate emergency and have a responsibility to ensure the health and safety of federal employees who are exposed to extreme weather conditions while balancing the Postal Service’s performance.”
Postal service workers were not the only public servants suffering deadly consequences during this past summer’s heat. Officials believe that heat contributed to the death of 58-year-old Dallas police officer Christopher Jackson after he collapsed and died in front of his home after completing a shift, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
