The Orangeburg Post Office has gained star status after being tapped as only the 37th postal facility in the nation to be designated an OSHA Voluntary Protection Program “Star” site.

The post office was presented with a VPP flag and trophy during a special employee recognition breakfast and ceremony Friday morning at its site on Middleton Street.

“I couldn’t be more proud. These employees come in and do a tremendous job. Service is the key. They are all focused on that each and every day,” Orangeburg Postmaster Ronnie Whitehead said.

“I work with them very closely, and I know what they can do. They do what they’re asked to do on a consistent basis. Employees are encouraged to identify and correct safety-related issues on the spot,” Whitehead said. “With things that can’t be handled on the spot, employees are asked to fill out a report that is brought to the supervisor or postmaster. We then have five days to respond to that.”

Mandatory safety talks are one of several initiatives the post office implements to reduce industrial accidents inside the facility, Whitehead said. Postal drivers are among the employees who receive required safety training. Keeping doors closed, seat belts on and signal lights flashing are among the simple training tenets.

To date, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recommended or approved 133 postal work sites for VPP participation.

In the VPP, management, labor and OSHA establish cooperative relationships at workplaces that have implemented a comprehensive safety and health management system. Approval into VPP is OSHA’s official recognition of the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have achieved exemplary occupational safety and health.

The Orangeburg Post Office is the first postal facility in the U.S. Postal Service’s Greater South Carolina District to snag the honor.

“We’ve got others that are trying, but Orangeburg has made it,” district spokesman Harry Spratlin said.

“That office is clean as a whistle and meticulously kept. Orangeburg is right up there ... This is something where all of the people at the post office have to pull together, make a commitment and follow up in a very big way on anything that might have any kind of bearing on safety,” Spratlin said.

“Our purpose is to recognize the employees’ hard work and commitment,” said Spratlin, noting district manager Nicholas L. Rinaldi recommended the Orangeburg Post Office for the award because of its outstanding safety record.

“You are truly South Carolina’s safest post office,” said Suzanne Small, senior post office operations manager, during the ceremony. She said the post office has taken a lead in its commitment to safety.

Bill Grimes, regional administrator of cooperative and state programs and an OSHA VPP assistant, said, “Typically, VPP sites have injury and illness rates roughly about half of what is normal for their particular industry. Employees at a VPP site become so accustomed to safety that it just becomes ingrained in them. It just benefits everyone, really.”

Tyrone Gray is a maintenance mechanic, safety captain and VPP committee member at the Orangeburg Post Office. The post office was also presented a framed copy of a newspaper article to display chronicling Gray’s own heroism.

A maintenance call from the supervisor to help fix a carrier’s broken-down truck quickly turned into a matter of life and death on Sept. 5, 2007. Gray found himself applying first-aid to a stab victim who was walking on Seawright Street.

“One goes through a lot of training in one’s lifetime, sometimes through the job and sometimes in volunteer work. I was fortunate enough to be trained in first-aid by the postal department. It’s great to be able to recall the use of your training in an actual emergency situation,” Gray said.

“I’m just grateful ... that I’ve been able to recall it and put it to good use to help the citizens in the community,” he said.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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