ONE PHRASE UNPOPULAR AT POST OFFICES

Postal authorities dislike the popular phrase "going postal" in relation to violence in the workplace.

Prior to 1980, only a few violence-in-the-workplace incidents were reported, and those were attributed to "disgruntled employees."

That all changed during the 1980s, when more than 7,600 occupational homicides were reported by the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety. Suddenly the number of disgruntled employees had reached epidemic proportions.

In 1986 a couple of events led to the going postal phrase.

That was the year Patrick Henry Sherrill walked into an Edmond, Okla., post office, shot and killed 14, wounded several others, then turned the gun on himself. The people Sherrill killed were not strangers: He knew them all.

Not long afterward, Tom McTivane shot 17 postal workers in Royal Oak, Mich.

The post office always has been the butt of a lot of jokes, said Cape Girardeau Postmaster Mike Keefe. "Following these two incidents of violence in post offices, it suddenly became going postal, and once it started that was it from then on. It became part of our language.

"Violence will happen," said Keefe. "Somebody will take off on their boss or co-worker. But postal authorities are doing a lot of things to make their workplace safer."

Postal workers are under a lot of pressure, said Keefe. They are always working under deadlines and they push themselves hard.

Postal authorities have provided an employee assistance program for workers, said Keefe. Employees have a contact number they can call 24 hours a day, he said.

"They can call about any problems -- financial, marital, stress," said Keefe. "A lot of times the stress may not be connected with work, but they can still call."

Thousands of postal workers have attended violence-awareness seminars provided by the Postal Service.