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USPS · Safety and Procedures

You witness a workplace injury — a coworker slips and hurts their ankle. What is the BEST immediate action?

Reviewed by Jordan Morley, Editorial Lead at 247SimpleTests. Written by the 247SimpleTests Editorial Team from the official source material cited on every question.

Correct answer

Stop, ensure the injured coworker is safe (don't move them if seriously injured), call for medical help or supervisor immediately, secure the area to prevent additional injuries, and stay until help arrives

  1. A Continue working
  2. B Take a photo for social media
  3. C Move the coworker quickly
  4. D Stop, ensure the injured coworker is safe (don't move them if seriously injured), call for medical help or supervisor immediately, secure the area to prevent additional injuries, and stay until help arrives

Why this is the answer

Workplace injury response is heavily scripted at USPS for liability, employee welfare, and regulatory reasons. The exam is screening for: (1) prioritize the injured person — don't continue normal work; (2) don't move someone with a serious injury (back, neck, head, leg injuries can be worsened by movement); (3) call for help immediately — facility first aid, supervisor, 911 if serious; (4) secure the area — block off the hazard so other workers don't slip in the same spot, mark equipment unsafe; (5) stay until trained help arrives. Continuing to work fails the basic ethical standard. Photography/social media is grossly inappropriate and may be a privacy violation. Moving someone with a serious injury can permanently worsen it. The right answer combines compassion + procedure + maintaining the scene so the situation doesn't escalate.
Source: USPS VEA-MH, Injury Response

Practice more questions

This question is from our USPS Exam Practice Tests practice test. Take the full practice test to test your knowledge across all Safety and Procedures and other topics.

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About this topic: Safety and Procedures

Safety and procedures items present situations involving equipment, lifting, hazards and rules. The expected answer always follows the procedure and reports the hazard, even when it costs time. This is one of 14 VEA 475 (Mail Handler) questions on safety and procedures, each with a full explanation on a single study page.

New to this exam? Our USPS exam guide explains the format, scoring, and how to prepare.

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