“Slips, trips and falls,” says postal worker Bob Kurz, are things that makes my job dangerous.”
Penn Yan Post Office employees used their co-worker, Sharon Paulchel, who was sporting a bright pink cast, as an example of the perils of the job.
“Every year someone falls off a porch,” says Kurz. The results are broken arms and legs, sprained ankles and slipped discs - to name a few injuries, common to the trade.
The best way to keep your postal carrier on his or her feet, is to make sure your property is safe.
Paulchel fell on a step that was not fastened onto the porch. Sometimes, the workers say, homeowners use a back or side door and not the front door and they may not even know there is a problem out there.
Although there is no law, the post office would like to have all mailboxes at the bottom of the steps, or at ground level.
If this is done carriers would not need to go up the steps at all. Post Master Leigh MacKerchar says a few years ago a carrier fell and a story was published about the accident.
Residents were asked to consider moving their boxes and the result was good.
“Right now, MacKerchar said, the postal service is trying to eliminate routes. We have gone from five to four. So four people are walking the same route that five once did. Then when we have an accident it takes another person out. This affects everyone working here,” MacKerchar said.
During this busy holiday season, when their sacks are overflowing, the postal carriers ask customers to make sure your steps are clean and safe. They offered a few hints:
Check loose steps, boards and handrails. In warmer weather, Kurz says, wet paint is very dangerous.
The carrier’s best friend the dog might not be out, but if his chain is on the porch it could be a hazard.
The people who bring your mail through wind rain, sleet and snow need your help. After all, they have stories too about carriers who have helped citizens caught in bad situations - fires, heart attacks and falls.
Eliminate liability by making your entranceway safe.
And, by the way, the postal delivery person is not the only person coming to your house this time of year.
Along with other delivery people, there are friends and relatives (some bearing gifts) and if you don’t have a chimney, it may be Santa’s only route of delivery.
You wouldn’t want to have him fall on your porch.
