from Marcia Cooper, Director of Mailing Services

Last week I attended the National Postal Forum, a convention hosted by the U.S. Postal Service for the benefit of business mailers. Naturally a topic of great interest was the safety of the mail. Here are excerpts from some of the sessions.

The U.S. Postal Service places the highest priority on the safety of its customers and employees as well as the security of the mail. Over 20 billion pieces of mail have been delivered since the tragedy of September 11. Understanding the importance of America’s mail, the Postal Service is taking every precaution for safety. Now more than ever we are dependant on the Postal Service to keep the mail moving safely and securely, however everyone needs to exercise common sense along with reasonable precautions when dealing with this unfamiliar situation. The information below describes how to identify a suspicious piece of mail and the procedures to follow.

How to recognize a suspicious letter or parcel

Some typical characteristics of potentially dangerous mail items:

• Have a powdery substance on the outside.
• Are unexpected or from someone unfamiliar to you.
• Have excessive postage, handwritten or poorly typed address, incorrect titles or titles with no name, or misspellings of common words.
• Are addressed to someone no longer with your organization or are otherwise outdated.
• Have no return address, or one that cannot be verified as legitimate.
• Are of unusual weight, given their size, or are lopsided or oddly shaped.
• Have an unusual amount of tape.
• Are marked with restrictive endorsements, such as "Personal" or "Confidential".
• Have strange stains or oily stains.
• Have strange odors.

What to do if you receive a suspicious letter or parcel

• Do not handle the mail piece or package suspected of contamination.
• Make sure that suspicious items are isolated. If the item is an envelope, place it in a plastic bag. If a parcel, cover the item preferably with plastic.
• Notify local law enforcement authorities (UA Police Department) and evacuate the area.
• Ensure that all persons who touched the mail item wash their hands with warm water and soap.
• List all persons who have touched the item. Include contact information and have the information available for authorities.
• Place all clothing worn when in contact with the suspected mail item in plastic bags and have them available for law enforcement agents.
• As soon as practical, shower with soap and water.

The Postal Service urges persons to recognize that the mail is safe. You should not stop using the mail because of the isolated incidents occurring recently. Being aware of incoming mail, exercising common sense, and familiarizing yourself with the characteristics of potentially dangerous mail will help to ensure that you remain safe.

This week the Postal Service will distribute a postcard to every household address in America. The postcard is for your personal use and will contain essentially the same information as above.

Mailing Services is also concerned about mail security and the safety of the campus community. On October 30, a training session regarding potentially dangerous mail will be held at 1:30 p.m. in the Arkansas Union theater. If you have not yet registered to attend, please do so by calling our office at 575-5649.