Exposure to environmental heat outdoor · Heat exhaustion, fatigue
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at United States Postal Service, 333 North Sunrise Way, PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA 92262
on — Heat exhaustion, fatigue, affecting the BODY SYSTEMS .
Final narrative
On July 5, 2024, an employee was delivering mail when he became ill and was hospitalized for heat exhaustion.
Hospitalized BODY SYSTEMS Heat environmental
More severe injuries at United States Postal Service
An employee was working to deliver mail to an apartment building. She was waiting for a customer to move, to obtain clearance to the mailboxes. The door swung inward and closed on her right little finger. The top half of her finger was surgically amputated.
On September 22, 2025, an employee was making a delivery to a home. When walking up the sidewalk to the home, the employee tripped, fell to the ground, and hit her head and face against the concrete. The employee was hospitalized due to a laceration to the face and a fractured orbital socket.
An employee was talking with a customer in their yard while delivering mail when a vehicle on the street lost control and struck the employee, resulting in ligament damage in their right knee and injuries to their neck, back, left thumb, and collarbone.
On September 13, 2025, an employee was delivering mail when they became overheated and had muscle cramps in their legs. The employee was hospitalized for heat-related illness.
On October 7, 2025, employee was installing mulch with a landscape crew. At around 2:15 PM, the employee took a break and started to feel cramping/pain. The employee was taken to the hospital with rhabdomyolysis due to heat exhaustion.
A temporary employee was on top of a cane wagon, throwing cane down to the ground (i.e., planting). He reached the end of the field row and started to feel ill. He experienced cramping and headaches due to heat exhaustion.
An employee was working to deliver mail to an apartment building. She was waiting for a customer to move, to obtain clearance to the mailboxes. The door swung inward and closed on her right little finger. The top half of her finger was surgically amputated.
An employee was waiting for an operator to bring mail over to a mail sorting machine when she became pinned between the machine and a stack of pallets being pushed by a powered industrial truck (PIT). The employee suffered bruising and swelling on her hips, lower back, knees, and left side; a puncture wound to her left thigh from a machine screw; a crushed right hand with numbness and tingling; numbness to the left big toe; and a right wrist sprain.
An employee was walking back to a carrier case with mail in her hand when she tripped over a tub. Her back overarched as she fell, resulting in a fractured back that required hospitalization.
An employee delivered a package. On her way back to her vehicle she was attacked by two dogs that came from around a corner. She was hospitalized with dog bites.
The injured employee was assisting a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) enforcement operation. During an apprehension, officers returned fire at a subject and struck the employee with a bullet. The employee sustained a gunshot wound to their right hand.
The injured employee was assisting in the disassembly phase after a radar array had been lowered and secured. The crew began removing load bearing pins from an overhead crane to free the radome. A load bearing pin was stuck. The injured employee went to remove the pin manually as a second team member applied pressure from the opposite side. The pin unexpectedly released and struck the injured employee s right thumb, resulting in partial amputation of the distal phalanx including an open distal phalanx fracture and nail bed laceration.
At about 3:10 p.m. on October 3, 2025, an employee was inspecting a car. Two dogs that had been in another car were leashed and tethered to a bollard. As the employee inspected the first car along with a narcotics detection dog, one of the other dogs came loose and attacked the narcotics dog. The employee was separating the dogs when the other dog bit his left ring finger. The last joint of the finger was injured and part of it was bitten off.
An employee was preparing a bundle of green onions for chopping. While holding the bundle in his left hand, he made his first cut using a 9-inch kitchen knife held in his right hand. The knife contacted the tip of his left thumb, resulting in an amputation of approximately 0.5 inches of the thumb that required hospitalization.