Postal Workers Research Articles

Physiological and cognitive responses when riding an electrically assisted bicycle versus a classical bicycle

The present study compared the physiological responses and the subsequent cognitive performance when riding an electrically assisted (EB) versus a classical (CB) bicycle. Oxygen uptake, heart rate and leg extensor muscles electromyographic (EMG) activity were recorded in 10 subjects during a 30-min intermittent cycling exercise performed with EB versus CB. Cognitive performance was evaluated by a mail sorting test, performed at rest and after each cycling session. Averaged oxygen uptake and heat rate were significantly (P < 0.05) lower during EB cycling than during CB cycling. The EMG activities of the vastus lateralis, rectus femoris and gastrocnemius medialis muscles were significantly (P < 0.001) greater during CB cycling than during EB cycling. The time to complete the mail sorting test was significantly (P < 0.05) shorter after EB cycling than after CB cycling. Because EB cycling reduced muscle strains and physiological stress, it might offer benefits for those using bicycles in their work, such as postal workers and police officers. Statement of Relevance: This study compared physiological and cognitive responses when riding an electrically assisted versus a classical bicycle. The results showed that the electrically assisted bicycle led to reduced muscle strains and physiological stress and, therefore, might offer benefits for those using bicycles in their work, such as postal workers and police officers.

Philip F. Rubio . There's Always Work at the Post Office: African American Postal Workers and the Fight for Jobs, Justice, and Equality . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 2010. Pp. xxiii, 446. Cloth $65.00, paper $24.95.

Philip F. Rubio . There's Always Work at the Post Office: African American Postal Workers and the Fight for Jobs, Justice, and Equality . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 2010. Pp. xxiii, 446. Cloth $65.00, paper $24.95.

Flexible weekly tour scheduling for postal service workers using a branch and price

This paper addresses the problem of flexible shift scheduling of service employees at mail processing and distribution centers. Our main objective is to determine staffing levels for different worker categories subject to a host of union restrictions and general labor regulations. The problem is modeled as a mixed-integer linear program and solved with branch and price algorithm. Using real data provided by a US Postal Service a variety of computational experiments are performed to quantify the benefits of scheduling flexibility. These include different shift starting times, different shift lengths, a lunch break allowance, and different days-off assignments. In addition, the ratio between regular and flexible workers is varied to investigate its effect on costs. The results show the efficiency of the proposed procedure. Finally, we offer some managerial insights gained from the analysis.

Visual ergonomics interventions in mail sorting facilities

This study was performed between 2004 and 2011 at mail sorting facilities in Sweden. During this time, different interventions were performed. The first was a lighting intervention that had a positive impact on the postal workers, especially those with eyestrain. A new lighting system also improved the illuminance and gave better light distribution. The second intervention involved new personal spectacles for the postal workers who needed them and this had a positive effect on eyestrain. The third intervention involved a specific type of sorting spectacles for the postal workers who already used progressive lenses privately. The reading distances that the postal workers had while sorting the mail was inverted to the distances in their regular progressive lenses. The new sorting spectacles had a positive effect on head postures and on muscular activity.

Differences in sickness absence by country and occupation: findings from the CUPID study

ObjectivesTo assess the relative importance of occupational physical activities, conditions of employment and culturally determined health behaviour as determinants of sickness absence for musculoskeletal disorders, we compared patterns of absence...

Susan D. Jones, Death in a Small Package: A Short History of Anthrax

A few weeks after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon a series of letters containing an innocuous looking beige-coloured powder arrived at the offices of United States Congressman Tom Daschle. Containing spores of Bacillus anthracis that had been weaponised so as to float freely in the air, the letters would result in 22 people, including four US postal workers, contracting anthrax, a deadly disease that in previous centuries had been the preserve of Turkish sheep farmers and Yorkshire wool sorters. The identity of the person who sent those spores may never be known for certain—the FBI's lead suspect, US anthrax vaccine researcher Bruce Ivins, committed suicide shortly after being indicted in 2008, meaning the evidence against Ivins was never tested in court—but thanks to the latest genomic techniques we know that the mother culture from which the spores were generated came from a flask in Ivins' office.

There's Always Work at the Post Office: African American Postal Workers and the Fight for Jobs, Justice, and Equality

There's Always Work at the Post Office: African American Postal Workers and the Fight for Jobs, Justice, and Equality

Jobs at risk of work-related road crashes: An analysis of the casualties from the Rhône Road Trauma Registry (France)

In France and other European countries, employees injured in commuting crashes (travelling to and from work), like those injured in road crashes while actually on duty, are compensated for such occupational accidents. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to analyse the occupational characteristics of work-related road crash victims in the Rhône administrative area, with a view to obtaining better knowledge of the types of occupational groups and industry sectors involved. This study is based on the Rhône Road Trauma Registry for the year 2001, supplemented with data obtained by a self-administered postal questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were analysed in terms of type of journey (on duty and commuting) and crash circumstances. This study confirms the elevated crash risk (compared to the reference category) for categories of workers whose work predominantly involves driving, such as (male) truck drivers and delivery drivers. Elevated risk was also highlighted for (female) health and social workers while commuting. Taking mileage into account, other categories also seemed to be at particular risk of work-related crashes: postal workers, security guards transporting funds and technicians in the computer and telecommunications sectors.

A physically active occupation does not result in compensatory inactivity during out-of-work hours

Aim To examine differences in non-occupational physical activity behaviour in workers who engage in high and low occupational physical activity. Design Cross-sectional survey of 112 otherwise comparable volunteers in active (56 walking postal delivery workers) or inactive (56 administrative postal workers) occupations in Glasgow (Scotland) in 2007. Methods Twenty four-hour physical activity (steps and time standing, walking and sedentary) patterns were measured using activPAL™ for seven days. Comparisons were made during 8-hour work-shifts, during non-work hours on work-days and during the 2 non-work days. Results Age and body mass index of delivery and office staff, respectively, were (means (SD)) 38 (9) years versus 40 (7) years and 26.3 (3) kg m − 2 versus 27.4 (4) kg m − 2 . Delivery staff spent substantially longer time than office staff upright (6.0 (1.1) h versus 3.9 (1.5) h) and walking (3.1 (0.7) h versus 1.6 (0.7) h) and amassed more steps (16,035 (4264) versus 6709 (2808)) during 8-hour work-shifts and over 24 h on work days. During non-work hours of work-days and during non-work days, there were no significant differences in physical activity between the groups. The results were unchanged when the 15 women were excluded. Conclusion Having a more active occupation is not associated with more inactivity during non-work hours.

Dress Behind Bars: Prison Clothing as Criminality

Design and cultural historians searching for academic texts on uniform are likely to encounter a huge literature on the subject. There are many books on uniform, but it is rare to find a focused analysis of uniform clothing from a specific period, or work that theorizes the social role of regulation dress. Even fewer books situate the emergence of uniform clothing within the visual economy and industrialization of nineteenth-century modernity. Not only were uniforms key to the development of mass-produced clothing in Europe, they were also central to the social education and reform projects associated with modernity. During the past two decades, fashion has gained increased attention within cultural history, cultural studies and sociology, but studies of uniform clothing are less conspicuous. Twentieth-century fashion surveys tend to skip the two world wars, to focus their attention on pre- and post-war styles. War may shrink the fashion market, but military requirements also expanded the production and consumption of military and service uniforms. As regards military uniform, books for hobbyists and enthusiasts dominate the market, such as the illustrated military histories published by Osprey. Few books explore the history and politics of occupational clothing. Uniforms worn by prisoners, nurses, postal workers and police might deserve more considered analysis, but it has fallen to costume historians to trace these histories.1 In the 1980s, Nathan Joseph's sociological analysis of uniform drew attention to the communicative character of uniforms,2 but it was Brian McVeigh's study of regulation dress within the Japanese education system that revealed ‘uniforming’ as a visible marker of social status3 While Jennifer Craik's ambitious survey of uniform explores relationships between their overt and covert meanings,4 stories of subversion tend to dominate the analysis, leaving the original contexts for uniform design under-researched.

Self-rated coping styles and registered sickness absence among nurses working in hospital care: A prospective 1-year cohort study

Background Sickness absence is an important problem in healthcare that affects the quality of care. Sickness absence has been related to coping strategies. Problem-focused coping was shown to be associated with low sickness absence and emotion-focused coping with high sickness absence among postal workers. Objectives This study investigated the relationship between coping styles and sickness absence in healthcare. Design Prospective study linking self-rated coping styles at baseline with the number of episodes of sickness absence during one year of follow-up. Setting Somatic hospital employing 1153 persons. Participants Convenience sample of 566 female nurses working in the hospital's clinical wards and outpatient clinic. Of these, 386 (68%) nurses had complete data for analysis. Methods The nurses completed a questionnaire at baseline with items on health, work, and coping styles. Three styles of coping were defined: problem-solving coping (i.e., looking for opportunities to solve a problem), social coping (i.e., seeking social support in solving a problem), and palliative avoidant coping (i.e., seeking distraction and avoiding problems). Sickness absence data were retrieved from the hospital's register in the following year. The association between the coping styles and the number of both short (1–7 days) and long (>7 days) episodes of sickness absence was assessed by Poisson regression analyses with age, work hours per week, general health, mental health, and effort–reward [ER] ratio as covariates. Results Problem-solving coping was negatively associated with the number of long episodes of sickness absence (rate ratio [RR] = 0.78, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.64–0.95). Social coping was negatively associated with the number of both short episodes (RR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.79–0.97) and long episodes (RR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.64–0.97) of sickness absence. After adjustment for the ER-ratio, the associations of coping with short episodes of sickness absence strengthened and associations with long episodes weakened, however, significance was lost for both types of sickness absence. Palliative avoidant coping was not associated with sickness absence among female hospital nurses. Conclusion Problem-solving coping and social coping styles were associated with less sickness absence among female nurses working in hospital care. Nurse managers may use this knowledge and reduce sickness absence and understaffing by stimulating problem-solving strategies and social support within nursing teams.

기혼남성 우편집배직 공무원의 생활만족도에 영향을 미치는 관련 변수

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of personal, family, and job characteristics on married male postal delivery workers` overall life satisfaction. For this purpose, we surveyed 263 married male postal delivery workers between October 1st to 21st, 2008, and analyzed the data with multiple regression analysis. The results of this study were as follows: First, postal workers earned a low level of income, and their quality of health was not good relative to their age. They had severe work-family conflict, but could support and communicate with colleagues well. Second, even though they felt little opportunities and difficulties in lives, they moderately satisfied with everyday lives. Third, 43% of their satisfaction was explained by personal, family, and job related variables. Levels of workfamily conflict (${\beta}

‘Let them move the mail with transistors instead of brains’: Labour convergence in posts and telecommunications, 1972–3

The United States employs more postal workers than any other country, including China. The American Postal Workers Union and the National Association of Letter Carriers represent the majority of these workers. Since the APWU's formation in 1970, both unions have declined to merge with one another or any other union; however, in the early 1970s, the APWU and the NALC participated in merger talks with the Communications Workers of America. This article explores the proposed merger between the APWU, the NALC, and the CWA to try to clarify why these unions continually declined to effect ‘labour convergence’.

Assessing the impact of a health promotion initiative targeted at male postal workers in Ireland

Assessing the impact of a health promotion initiative targeted at male postal workers in Ireland

Evidence of Health Risks from Occupational Sitting: Where Do We Stand?

Evidence of Health Risks from Occupational Sitting: Where Do We Stand?

There's always work at the post office: African American postal workers and the fight for jobs, justice, and equality

This book brings to life the important but neglected story of African American postal workers and the critical role they played in the U.S. labor and black freedom movements. Historian Philip Rubio, a former postal worker, integrates civil rights, labor, and left movement histories that too often are written as if they happened separately. Centered on New York City and Washington, D.C., the book chronicles a struggle of national significance through its examination of the post office, a workplace with facilities and unions serving every city and town in the United States.Black postal workers--often college-educated military veterans--fought their way into postal positions and unions and became a critical force for social change. They combined black labor protest and civic traditions to construct a civil rights unionism at the post office. They were a major factor in the 1970 nationwide postal wildcat strike, which resulted in full collective bargaining rights for the major postal unions under the newly established U.S. Postal Service in 1971. In making the fight for equality primary, African American postal workers were influential in shaping today's post office and postal unions.

Chronic microtraumatic digital pulpitis in plastic surgeons: a common affliction seldom reported?

Introduction Chronic microtraumatic digital pulpitis is a painful, fissuring dermatitis of the dominant finger pulps associated with repetitive traumatic injury to the hands. It is regarded as an occupational hazard and has been reported in chefs, postal workers and dental technicians.

Physical and psychosocial risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders in New Zealand nurses, postal workers and office workers

ObjectiveTo investigate the association of physical and psychosocial risk factors with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in New Zealand nurses, postal workers and office workers.DesignA cross-sectional postal survey asking about demographic, physical...

Pulling the Plug on Anthrax Research: Wild Horses and “The Doctor's Dilemma”

Pulling the Plug on Anthrax Research: Wild Horses and “The Doctor's Dilemma”

Ambient air pollution and respiratory health effects in mail carriers

Mail carriers represent an occupational group suffering from respiratory symptoms and lung function impairment. Although environmental conditions may play role, information on the effects of air pollution exposure in this population is lacking. The present study was conducted in Athens, Greece, in order to investigate the adverse effects of long-term air pollution exposure on respiratory outcomes in mail carriers. A total of 226 mail carriers and 73 office employees were enrolled. Information on respiratory symptoms, medical, occupational, residential and smoking history was obtained through a questionnaire. Flow-volume curves were performed in the workplace using a portable spirometer. Individualised personal exposure assessment has been applied based on long-term residential and occupational subject history linked with geographical air pollution distribution. Furthermore, personal measurements were obtained for forty-one mail carriers using NO(2) and O(3) passive samplers, assuming that current air pollution exposure is sufficiently representative of long-term, previous exposure to make a plausible link with current health status. The analysis based on exposures estimated on the basis of residential and work addresses showed that the most exposed to PM(10) postal workers have rhinitis at a higher rate (OR=1.67, 95% CI: 1.01-2.75). In mail carriers there is indication that those exposed to higher concentrations of Omicron(3) or PM(10) have a greater possibility to present rhinitis (OR=1.63, 95% CI: 0.93-2.88 and OR=1.70, 95% CI: 0.96-3.03, respectively). The effect of O(3) on rhinitis became even more apparent in the analysis based on exposures assessed by personal measurements (OR=6.74, 95% CI: 1.24-36.55). Exposure to NO(2) was significantly associated with decrements in lung function. For office employees the exposure to air pollutants was not associated to any adverse respiratory outcome. Our findings suggest that air pollution is a contributing factor for the occurrence of rhinitis and lung function impairment in mail carriers.