Universal Postal Union: Into the Furnace

BERNE, Switzerland, Feb. 26 -- The Universal Postal Union issued the following news:

Between May and October every year, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is faced with a recurring life-threatening challenge.

A challenge that needs to be carefully managed to ensure, first and foremost, its workers' lives are protected and to minimize impact to operations.

In 2020, this challenge was the biggest it has ever been. The 2020 wildfire season was a record-breaking one for the US as a whole. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, as of 27 November, 52,113 wildfires burned 8,889,297 acres in 2020. This is approximately 2.3 million more acres burned than the 10-year average and almost double the average burned in the 2019 season.

"The postal service has a long history of preparing for and responding to natural disasters, such as, wildfires, tornados and hurricanes, and those experiences have helped us to respond to the 2020 wildfires."

The western United States was the hardest hit area. Severe thunderstorms ignited wildfires across California, Oregon and Washington in August and September. Due to strong winds and hot dry terrains, these fires turned into record-breaking megafires, which killed around 40 people. These fires are one of nature's most destructive forces, capable of moving as fast as 14 miles per hour.

Due to climate change, the risk of wildfires continues to rise. In fact, according to NASA, the fire season in the US is now stretching from early spring through to late autumn, with fires igniting as late as 2 December, 2020, in Orange County.

USPS is obviously not alone in tackling wildfire challenges. Postal operators in Europe, South America, Canada, India, and other parts of the world, also face yearly disruption as a result of fires that ravage regions. But USPS's approach to tackling these natural disasters is one that can help all postal operators. According to USPS senior director for the office of the postmaster general and chief executive officer in the US, Patrick Mendonca, "it pays to plan!"

"The postal service has a long history of preparing for and responding to natural disasters, such as, wildfires, tornados and hurricanes, and those experiences have helped us to respond to the 2020 wildfires quickly to ensure that the mail and our employees are safe," he says. "In addition, postal officials always work diligently to try to resume operations as quickly, safely and efficiently as possible. Resuming mail delivery after a disaster impacts a community often brings back a sense of normalcy to our customers."

Responding to the crisis

During the 2020 wildfires, a number of USPS's post offices were damaged and others were closed due to evacuation orders from the local governmental authorities. "In any instance where a post office is closed either due to an evacuation or damage to the facility, the customer's mail is made available for pick up at another postal location," Mendonca continues. "We provide the information regarding disruption in service for our residential customers via a dedicated page on our website."

Aside from ensuring operational continuity during wildfire season, USPS makes sure its staff are prepared for any eventuality through extensive preparedness and response plans and guides, which have been developed alongside the Universal Postal Union's Building resilience: A guide to disaster risk management for the postal sector guide. "These plans and guides include a set of actions for wildfire events and checklists to help workers and management prepare," notes Mendonca.

"They are used by regional and local Emergency Management Teams, which oversee the preparation and response to any hazard. In addition, each facility manager is responsible for managing incidents that affect their facility. These facility managers are supported by the Emergency Management Teams, which receive training on an annual basis to ensure they are well informed," he continues.

"Each facility has a standardized Emergency Plan, which is updated and certified on an annual basis, or more frequently if needed. The plan is comprised of a concept of operations for how emergency preparation and response is organized and orchestrated; an emergency action plan that covers evacuation procedures; and a continuity of operations plan that identifies which operations will be transferred to what alternate site(s) if the affected facility cannot continue operations onsite," adds Mendonca.

Prior to wildfire season, USPS identifies at-risk facilities and ensures that evacuation needs are understood by local management. It also makes sure that water and N95 respirator masks are placed and logged in designated supply hubs, and recommends that a master key stock and log is created for all facilities.

"We have an extensive communications package, which includes items for posting on bulletin boards, as well as stand-up talks to be given to employees regarding wildfires and air quality protection."

During the season, the postal operator uses information from national weather providers to assess risk in its locations. "The USPS issues a weather report to all operations managers that highlights the risks of elevated or critical fire weather conditions for that day based on information from the United States National Weather Service. Additionally, the USPS uses Airnow.gov to monitor local air quality conditions during wildfires," explains Mendonca.

According to USPS, communication is key during wildfire season. "We have an extensive communications package, which includes items for posting on bulletin boards, as well as stand-up talks to be given to employees regarding wildfires and air quality protection. The Emergency Management Teams use these materials when there is a threat of a wildfire. We also have a National Employee Emergency Hotline, which workers can use to notify other employees and management of the situation," notes Mendonca.

Supporting others

Alongside USPS's role to support its workers during wildfire season, it also participates in the United States National Response Framework, which is a guide to how the nation responds to all types of disasters and emergencies. As a vital part of the nation's emergency response structure, the postal service ensures that mail operations - a lifeline for impacted communities needing access to medications and essential items - are restored after an emergency or natural disaster.

Looking at how other postal operators can best prepare for natural disasters Mendonca concludes, "We recommend that all posts look at the UPU's Building resilience: A guide to disaster risk management for the postal sector guide. The guide is available on the UPU website here. As recommended in the guide the organizing framework of the '3P's - People, Property and Product', can be applied to any threat to help ensure that in preparedness and response posts are prioritizing the welfare of their employees, that they understand what is critical in terms of their assets and those that they rely upon, and how the overall effect of a disaster has impacted the posts ability to provide postal services.

"Posts should also identify and evaluate risks and implement mitigation/preparedness activities, including adopting the emergency response checklists for natural disasters."

"Posts should also identify and evaluate risks and implement mitigation/preparedness activities, including adopting the emergency response checklists for natural disasters that are part of the UPU's disaster risk management guide. Posts should be familiar with their pertinent national emergency authority and its resources, and establish relationships when possible to leverage the extensive knowledge the post has of the community it serves," Mendonca concludes.

USPS key message during any disaster, including a wildfire, is to, "Think, prepare and act to protect your personal safety and those around you."