Physiological - Other
Other Ground Crew hazard
General None Reported / Taken
Equipment / Tooling; Company Policy; Procedure
Trade or Kona winds are common on Maui and may change without notice. My fellow employee's [baggage handlers] and I are concerned that the lavs are being dumped on a B757 while we are offloading an inbound aircraft or on loading an outbound aircraft (rear compartment.) Since the beginning of March we have asked that the dumping of the lavs be done after we offload and we will resume loading when they are done. Under OSHA regulations we; as employees; who are exposed to hazardous materials; ex. BIO-HAZ must be supplied with proper protective equipment and trained on how to use such equipment as well as proper action in case of spill or exposure; which our employees who work in the back of the aircraft are not provided with. We were informed yesterday that Management is allowing the servicing of the lavs to be done while we are off/on loading an aircraft. It was also suggested that the dumping be allowed when winds are away from us but we have seen the contract employees attempt to dump the lavs with the winds coming towards us too. We have requested that our contract service please wait until we offload an inbound flight and then we will clear the area for them to do their part. We have a lot of years among us and we have been sprayed while they have dumped the lavs. We have felt the spray of the truck being parking under the aircraft in an attempt to dump. This is caused by the liquid build up on the truck where the hose is stored. Our contract service may at times take up to 30 minutes until they show up to an aircraft which puts us having to stop loading when they show up. Our rampers have asked that if they do not show up within that 30 minute window and we start loading they would prefer us not stopping to accommodate them so we won't be hit with a delay for not loading all the bags in time of closeout.
Baggage handler suggest that the aircraft lavatories should not be serviced while the rear compartment is being loaded and unloaded due to the high winds present at PHOG and the likelihood that the ground crew will get sprayed.