Last Updated on December 2, 2022
The flashpoint is the temperature at which an organic compound becomes combustible; during the entire time building up to that point, the rising temperature in combination with the chemical reactiveness of the substance was all the while sitting in preparation for the point of ignition; were there options to pursue prior to the point of ignition? If there had been a change in chemical make-up, then perhaps the point of temperature-to-combination of substance would have altered, where either a higher or lower flashpoint would occur; or, the rise of the temperature, and the rate of acceleration, could have been changed.
Whatever the needed changes in order to avoid the flashpoint, however, one thing is clear: the options are limited, and any altered states would merely delay the ultimate event of a flashpoint occurrence.
For Federal and Postal Workers who suffer from an illness or disability, such that the illness or disability impacts the performance of one or more of the basic or essential elements of one’s job, the flashpoint of filing for CSRS or FERS Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, is an inevitability which leaves the Federal or Postal employee similarly limited options.
One can continue in the mode of life which one finds one’s self in: of the daily treadmill of suffering through the workday with pain, profound fatigue and progressively debilitated emotional turmoil. Or, one can wait for the Agency or Postal Service to initiate an adverse action, such as a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), periodic suspensions or reprimands — or removal. Or, one can begin to prepare, formulate and file for CSRS or FERS Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Limited options do not necessarily constitute a flashpoint of negative consequences; yes, a fire bursting in a home is a tragedy, but then there are controlled fires and even naturally occurring ones in fields of decay which benefit the environment.
It is thus ultimately up to the Federal or Postal employee to determine the point of combustibility, and therefore the timing of the event identified as the flashpoint.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
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