‘Tis the season... to make this the safest and most successful holiday season ever for the Postal Service.

With the busy holidays upon us, it is important to take a moment to reinforce some important points regarding hazardous materials (HAZMAT) that can be found in the mail, especially at this time.

Customers rely on the Postal Service to safely and efficiently deliver their gifts to friends, business associates, and loved ones during this season and also to return packages after the holidays.

Acceptance employees are required to ask the question “Does your parcel contain anything liquid, fragile, perishable, or potentially hazardous?”

During this festive and giving period the Postal Service handles an additional 20 billion pieces of parcels. While the vast majority of these packages contain nondangerous items, there is a small amount that has the potential to contain a material that may cause harm to employees and disrupt operations. When a parcel contains a hazardous material that is improperly packaged or nonmailable, it is a concern to everyone.

It is always important to remember that hazardous materials can be found in a wide variety of common household and consumer products. Hazardous materials can be found in:

• Aerosol products.
• Alcohol-based products (perfumes, cleaners).
• Paint products.
• Products with flammable, toxic, or corrosive characteristics.
• Parcels bearing an ORM-D or ORM-D-Air marking (see Example A).
• Food shipments preserved with dry ice that bear a DOT hazard class 9 label (see Example B).

Some items are not outwardly hazardous, but when packaged improperly can be mistaken for a dangerous item. Electronic toys and games, for instance, when shipped with the batteries in place can cause concern and disrupt operations.

Postal Service employees are required to assume that markings or labels present on parcels indicate the actual contents of the parcel. It is acceptable to reuse boxes for mail shipments provided that the mailer has removed or completely obliterated all former hazardous materials package markings and labels. Merely crossing out a label or marking or writing the current contents on a box is insufficient to allow mailing. The former markings and labels must be completely blotted out.

Proper packaging and labeling of hazardous materials is the responsibility of the mailer. Questions regarding the mailability of any material should be directed to the local post office or manager of business mail entry. Packaging and labeling requirements for hazardous materials can be found in the following USPS documents:

• Domestic Mail Manual C023.
• Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail.
• International Mail Manual (IMM).