The Postal Service is trying to tackle one of its oldest problems in a surprisingly simple way: by telling employees exactly how to walk. Instead of shrugging off slips, trips and falls as part of the job, the organization is spelling out step-by-step habits it says can keep carriers upright and on the clock. The new guidance may sound basic, but for workers who spend their days on uneven sidewalks, icy porches and cluttered stairwells, the stakes are anything but small.
This fresh push on walking technique fits into a broader safety campaign that treats every stride as a potential risk or a chance to avoid another injury report. Management is leaning on familiar reminders like “watch your step” and pairing them with more detailed tips on how to move, where to look and what to avoid. The message is blunt: pay attention to every step or expect more bruises, sprains and time off the route.
What the new walking directive actually tells carriers to do
The Postal Service has packaged its latest advice under a simple theme that urges employees to “watch your step while on the job,” turning a common phrase into a formal safety directive for carriers, clerks and plant workers alike. In that advisory, the organization frames walking as a skill that needs constant attention, not a background task that happens on autopilot, and it ties that mindset to a long list of preventable injuries. The message lands hardest on carriers who navigate cracked pavement, loose gravel and steep stoops, and who are now being reminded that a moment of distraction can turn into a workers’ compensation claim. The guidance is laid out as practical coaching, with the Postal Service telling employees to slow down, scan their path and treat every unfamiliar surface as a potential hazard, as described in its own safety advisory.
To make that big idea usable, the directive breaks safe walking into small, repeatable habits. Employees are told to keep their eyes on the path instead of on phones or mail, to test surfaces that might be slick, and to use railings whenever they are available. The advisory goes further by urging workers to avoid shortcuts across lawns or unshoveled areas that hide ice, holes or debris, and it stresses that footwear choices matter just as much as route planning. In one section, the guidance spells out that employees should always take care to avoid slips, trips and falls and then offers specific tips on how to do that, a list that appears in the detailed slip prevention tips shared internally with staff.
Why USPS is suddenly talking about how to walk
To outsiders, a memo on walking might sound like overkill, but inside the Postal Service the logic is straightforward: slips, trips and falls are among the most common ways employees get hurt. The organization’s own Safety and Health materials describe hazards such as uneven surfaces and distracted walking as serious threats to Postal Service employees, not minor annoyances that can be shrugged off. Those hazards show up everywhere, from cracked city sidewalks to wet loading docks and cluttered workroom floors, which is why the official Safety and Health treats them as a top priority. The new walking directive is essentially the on-the-ground translation of that policy, turning broad warnings into everyday behavior that supervisors can reinforce and carriers can actually follow.
The timing also lines up with a broader seasonal push around winter conditions, when snow and ice turn every front step into a potential accident scene. In New Jersey, the Postal Service has been publicly asking residents to keep paths cleared for carrier and public safety, warning that blocked walkways and icy steps put both mail carriers and customers at risk of injury. That appeal shows up clearly in a regional notice that urges communities to think about safety and accessibility first when storms hit, a message laid out in the NEW JERSEY outreach that also warns about snow and ice buildup around mailboxes and walkways.
From internal memo to public talking point
What really pushed the walking directive into the spotlight was not the internal memo itself, but how it landed once the language leaked into public view. Coverage seized on the idea that USPS was telling postal workers how to WALK, highlighting lines where USPS pleaded with carriers to be aware of their surroundings and to remain “vigilant” about every step. That framing turned a fairly standard safety reminder into a viral talking point, even though the underlying message was the same one safety trainers have been repeating for years. The story drew on the internal phrasing that urged employees to “Watch your step while on the job,” and it quoted passages where the Postal Service stressed that employees should be alert to changing conditions, as reflected in coverage of the USPS walking directive that zeroed in on those phrases.
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