Medical Air Solutions, LLC

Handling the Mail Safely

Inspecting incoming mail safely is on many minds since October of 2001.  We have retrieved documents from various sources that may assist mail room personnel and managers to ensure that the risk of anyone contracting any disease from an airborne pathogen delivered in the mail is reduced to an absolute minimum level.

An article, in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday, June 23rd, 2003, stated that the FBI has determined that the anthrax used in October, 2001, was only 2 years old.  It also stated that it is a lot less difficult to manufacture than previously thought and that the perpetrator could easily make more to send out.  (The article was by Davis Johnston and William J. Broad of the New York Times)

There is no standard design for an "inspection room" from any government organization as of yet.  Our standard mail room design takes all the "recommendations" and "guidelines" from all the agencies that have published documents and incorporated them in that design.

But the first, easiest and least costly protection you can provide is some basic Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and a set of procedures that teaches your mailroom people how and what to look for.  These documents give you a good starting point, but with the insidiousness of some of these pathogens, engineering controls, by far, make your mail room much safer.

To read about our dedicated mail inspection room, Click Here.

For individual mail inspection stations, Click Here.

   CDC Health Advisory

CDC Interim* Recommendations for Protecting Workers from Exposure to Bacillus anthracis in Work Sites Where Mail Is Handled or Processed
(*Updated from CDC Health Advisory 45 issued 10/24/01)

Occupational Exposure To Anthrax
OSHA Frequently Asked Questions

Mail Center Security Guide (PDF format)

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