Icy weather takes toll on postal carriers
Broken bones, concussions, plague workers
Calgary — Icy sidewalks this winter are leading to broken legs, sprained wrists, concussions, and “blown out” shoulders for Alberta’s postal workers, union representatives say.
Slips have felled one in 10 Calgary letter carriers, the Calgary local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers estimates. Edmonton posties are faring little better, with 21 reported injuries in December and January due to “slips, trips and falls,” with another six tied to vehicle crashes.
The wide range of injuries tied to record snow, and freeze and thaw cycles are wreaking havoc on workers, said Chuck Belliveau, vice-president and health and safety officer for the Calgary local.
“Start at the top of the head and work down. It’s everything, basically,” he said. “Strains, broken ankles, broken legs, broken arms … rotator cuff tears, knees and hips, concussions because people fall and then hit their head.”
Injured workers are letter carriers who deliver doorto-door mail to homes and rural and suburban mail carriers who deliver mail to the community mailboxes found in most new housing developments. Community mailboxes — the same ones that will be installed over the next five years as door-todoor mail delivery in urban areas is phased out — can be especially slick if not properly cleared.
Canada Post spokesman John Caines said the Crown corporation hires a contractor to clear the snow and ice away from community mailboxes. And while Caines couldn’t confirm numbers regarding injured postal workers, he said it’s been “very tough to move mail this winter.”
“This has been a terrible winter for us. Since the first of December we’ve had a weather issue every day to deal with somewhere in Canada … It’s just been very, very difficult on our employees.”
Mail service was even suspended last week on a couple of Calgary streets due to snow-cover and ice, Caines said. A postal worker was injured in the area and until the streets are deemed safe, residents have to pick up their mail at a depot.
“Our carriers walk kilometres every day, up and down hundreds of steps and stairs, and they have to be safe out there,” Caines said.
When a postal worker is injured while working, they’re required to report the injury to their supervisor. Often employees will come back to work in a modified form until they’ve fully recovered, said Heather MacKenzie, a health and safety officer for the Edmonton local.
Numerous employees who have slipped in past years can fall through the cracks, MacKenzie said. Even after being cleared by the Workers’ Compensation Board, there’s no guarantee enough modified work will be available to continue.
“Some of these people are getting an hour a day (of modified work) or nothing,” MacKenzie said. “You can’t survive on an hour a day.”