Dash 8-300
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness; Training / Qualification
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Human Factors
The APU was MEL'd and we had just parked [at the] gate. There was no GPU even though it had been called for in-range. We had the number two engine running while the people deplaned. With the number two engine RUNNING the caterer opened the service door. [The] Service Door Caution Light illuminated. I immediately shut down the number two engine and ran outside to let him know that procedure stated to wait for the engine to be shut down. The people continued to deplane on battery power and then we powered down the aircraft. We continued to wait another 40 minutes for a GPU.I believe that operations got very busy during a stormy night and was trying to cut corners to catch up. [I Recommend] operating GPU's on every gate and education for the caterers.
Dash-8-300 Captain reported a ground catering employee opened the service door while the Number 2 engine was still running.