The Security Group of the United States Postal Inspection Service® (USPIS®) is dedicated to promoting a safe environment for employees and customers while meeting established safety and security procedures.

As part of the Security Group, the Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) Program was created to prevent prohibited and dangerous materials from entering the mailstream. The HAZMAT Program promotes the safety of USPS® employees, the general public, and our transportation networks. To this end, an important tool exists for keeping track of hazardous materials incidents that occur in our networks — the Mailpiece Incident Reporting Tool (MIRT) — which can be accessed through the Safety Toolkit at safetytoolkit.usps.gov/IRT.

Launched on October 14, 2012, the MIRT is an electronic tool that replaces hard copy PS Form 1770, Mailpiece Spill or Leak Incident Report, and PS Form 6813, Non-Mailable Item Fact Sheet. The MIRT provides the following benefits:

• Increases reporting efficiency for HAZMAT incidents,
• Aligns with requirements for air shipments,
• Serves as a reliable data repository for the number, types of spills or leaks, and types of materials for each HAZMAT incident,
• Provides critical data to educate decision makers who write policy,
• Helps determine areas of focus for HAZMAT prevention and enforcement efforts, and
• Provides both mailers and USPS acceptance employees with the information necessary to reduce the occurrence of nonmailable mailpieces, spills or leaks, and air carrier rejects.

The MIRT is a critical tool for documenting mail incidents in postal networks and must be used to report the following:

• All nonmailable mailpieces identified in the mailstream.
• All mailpieces rejected by air carriers.
• All spills or leaks from a mailpiece producing injury, illness, property damage, or disruption to operations.

For MIRT questions or assistance, please contact your local USPIS Homeland Security Coordinator (HSC) for your District. Visit blue.usps.gov/aviationsecurity to find the HSC directory under the “Directory” tab.

USPS has thousands of acceptance and processing locations; if even one mailer, USPS facility, or USPS employee does not follow the procedures, everyone is at risk. The Security Group of USPIS would like to thank you for assisting us in our efforts to meet current safety and security challenges.

— The Security Group,
U.S. Postal Inspection Service, 1-17-19

Source: USPS