Another Year Without A/C in USPS Vans, Another Postal Worker Death

Climate & Comp

Fayetteville, NC (WorkersCompensation.com) – The recent death of a Fayetteville, N.C. postal worker is being investigated as heat-related.

The death comes just months after the USPS was fined by OSHA for a heat-related death in June of last year.  

Officials said Wednesday “Wendy” Johnson, 51, died in June after spending hours in a hot postal van. Family members said Johnson, a 20 year employee of the USPS said she began to feel sick on a hot day while working.

"When I would think of my mom, I would think of my own community because I didn't need nobody else but her," her daughter, Sa'ni Johnson, told WRAL.

Family members said Johnson, a supervisor, was riding in the back of a postal truck on a 95-degree day. Her son, Deandre Johnson, said she would sometimes help with deliveries. But on June 6, she began to feel sick.

Officials said Wendy Johnson was eventually found unconscious in the bathroom of a Fayetteville post office. OSHA is investigating the death as heat-related. The vehicles used by Johnson’s office do not have air conditioning. One employee told WRAL postal workers call the trucks “easy bake ovens.”

Deandre Johnson said his mother texted family members about the heat inside of trucks.

"She texted my aunt and said 'yeah, I'm in the back of this truck and I'm hot,'" Deandre Johnson said. "Being in her situation, I don't think she should have been in a truck in 95-degree weather and in the back of that truck it was like 102."

Family members said as soon as she got off the truck, Wendy Johnson went to the bathroom. Within 15 minutes, another employee found Johnson unresponsive.

In December, OSHA fined the USPS $15,625 after an investigation into the death of a Dallas mail carrier found that the USPS failed to protect him from the summer heat.

In June 2023, Eugene Gates, Jr.  collapsed while delivering mail during a 95-degree day in North Texas. According to the National Weather Service, the heat index reached 113 degrees that day.

OSHA alleged in its citation of the USPS that the agency failed to protect workers on the day Gates died from “the recognized hazard of high outdoor heat including high temperature, high humidity and direct sun exposure.”

“Such exposures are likely to lead to the development of serious heat-related illnesses such as, but not limited to, heat cramps, heat stress, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and death,” according to the citation.

Gates’ widow said the USPS is still putting workers at risk.

Her life, she said, hasn’t been the same since her husband’s death. OSHA’s proposed penalty was a slap in the face, she said. A medical examiner ruled Gates died from the heat and heart disease. His wife said he was in an un-air conditioned truck the day he died – the same trucks being used by other mail carriers today.

"They have a multi-billion dollar industry, and they are not looking out for the welfare of their employees," she said. "I want the world to know that the Postal Service did not care about their employees at all." 

OSHA’s citation lists recommended measures the agency could take to protect workers, including earlier start times and a heat acclimatization plan. But Kimetra Lewis, with the National Association of Letter Carriers, said the postal service has not implemented systemic change.

"Safety should always come first. And I just feel like the Postal Service hadn't put a priority to it," Lewis told CBS News in late May. "And I'm worried and concerned that the same things that occurred last year will reoccur this year."

Gates said she is concerned as well and will continue to be the voice of her husband and other postal workers.

"I'm just praying that someone, someone will listen and open up the doors of heaven to say, 'Okay, we get it now. Something is wrong,’” she said.

The USPS issued a statement to CBS News in response to a request for comment that said the agency puts its employees’ safety at its core.

“Our carriers deliver the mail throughout the year during varying temperatures and climatic conditions. This includes during the summer months when the temperatures rise throughout the country. The safety of our employees is a top priority, and the U.S. Postal Service has implemented a national Heat Illness Prevention Program (HIPP) for all employees,” the statement said. “Carriers are reminded to ensure they're hydrated, wear appropriate clothing, including hats, get in the shade whenever possible, and to take sufficient amounts of water and ice with them out on their routes. Carriers are further instructed to contact 9-1-1 in the event they begin experiencing any symptoms of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, and they are provided with information to help them identify the symptoms associated with these two forms of heat illness.”

The USPS said HIPP is triggered between April 1 and Oct. 31, and at any other time when the National Weather Service indicates outdoor temperatures are expected to exceed 80 degrees during the course of a workday or work shift. The USPS also said all employees are required to complete a heat stress training course every year.

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