This same action would also tie up the first responders at a cost to the community and you as a taxpayer, with a low probability of being apprehended.

The events of the week commencing 20 February 2012 in the USA just reconfirm the power of the substance filled envelope with attacks occurring on multiple politicians, media outlets and a university. This is not the first multi target campaign using substance filled envelopes. The previous year it was Chase Banks across the USA and a separate series of incidents involving schools in Texas and Washington DC.

Substance filled envelopes have been used to target child care centres, restaurants, corporate entities large and small, religious institutions, educational campuses and all levels of government. It is now over ten years since the ‘Anthrax’ attacks and this is a ‘matured’ security and safety threat that still brings organisations undone. It is also a global issue with incidents around the world. You don’t even need to be in the same country to send this weapon.

It will only be a matter of time before an affected worker commences litigation for failure to provide a safe working environment if it has not already.

Although analytical kits carried by the first responders can rule out the presence of hazardous materials there is a significant time period between discovery of the substance and the confirmation of the test results. Upon the opening of the envelope and the first moment of exposure is the time when the damage is done. It may not be physical it maybe psychological but it doesn’t matter the impact has been achieved.

In the USA CFR 41 requires the establishment of a mail handling plan including dealing with suspicious mail.

In Australia the Commonwealth Government via the Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF) has identified threatening letters and ‘white powder’ incidents as scenarios that staff must be protected against.[1]

Further the new Australian Work Health Safety Act and Regulations require that the Person Conducting the Business or Undertaking (PCBU) must undertake Due Diligence to identify workplace hazards and then take action to eliminate or minimize the hazard. This hazard maybe in their workplace or identified from a similar industry. How many workplaces receive incoming mail?

This hazard will not go away and ignorance is no longer an excuse. Take action now to protect your staff and your organisation.