Attended the Dec. 10Th MWAA safety meeting last week. Again I inquired about future smoking policy for IAD. Seems there legal department needs more time putting text together for smoking policy change. Nick Carr (MWAA) says it won't be till end of first quarter. (4/09)
-Nick informed the group, the ramp tower has complained to him about NOT understanding radio communications with some carriers trying to taxi or tow aircraft. Not MM.
- There has been an increase in vehicle accidents. MWAA safety officers will increase visibility and enforce AOA driving rules with tickets.
-No cell phones, electronic devices, blue tooth, I-pods while driving on the ramp. Pull over, STOP, then talk. Talking on the company radio is O.K. when driving. That distraction is O.K!
-5 mph around plane, 15 max on the road. Use the AOA roadway, it is the SAFER place to be.
-Stay clear of Lounges & Lounge roadways, docks.
With the upcoming inauguration, the airport expects to close a runway and use it to park airplanes. An estimated 4 million visitors in DC for the week. Metro will be locking station bathrooms. There are estimates of one bathroom for every 6000 people. I'll bet those Port A Pottys on 606 are destined for the celebration.
Nick Carr MWAA Safety Officer will be replaced next year by Dean Pound (MWAA).
At the big U safety meeting last month, I asked our station manager Sherri K. if she would provide a smoking kiosk for employees. After displaying her annoyance, she tried to squelch the issue stating the MWAA fire marshal's new smoke free policy. I explained she was incorrect, and noted the fire marshal will allow smoking inside an enclosure and meets his criteria.
-100 ft from fuel lines
- must be fully enclosed
-etc
She did state it was not a top priority of hers, nor would she allocate large sums of money to comply. And made it a point employees will be disciplined if caught using passenger kiosks upstairs. Forward me dated photos of white shirts.
I believe a hut like down the GQ shop could work. To be continued...
For the second time this month the company has postponed local safety meeting. New date 23rd, 12noon, Tuesday.
For the LINE, stay focused on your task , take the time to follow the paperwork, be professional & safety conscience. Any issues I can be reached at 2-7557. Still looking for safety team members, all shifts.
If you need contract proposals sheets they are available in Bob's and Tom's mail box. Bring them to the January 14 Th meeting. We are fortunate to have Bob on the negotiating team. This is our chance to get back what we have lost.
Also on the web iadsafety.blogspot.com Thanks for listening, Tom
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
HEXAVALENT CHROMIUM
Many aircraft parts contain this chemical such as Boeing green primer paint. This product contains a chemical (hexavalent chromium) known to the state of California to cause cancer. The CAL OSHA standard of no more than 5 micrograms in the work area was adopted by federal OSHA in 2006. But this is to be phased in over the next four years. For the best interest of your health and co-workers do not sand primer paint. To apply use a paint brush - much safer than spraying. (??? I know what about our past exposures???) If you do sand FR primer, a respirator should be worn. This may be difficult since no one at IAD is respirator qualified and qualification comes with company physical every five years, annual questionnaire and mask leak check. Contrary to all this - stores does stock respirators with all the attachments. Sanding outside is preferred, inside dust can be agitated by walking or dispersed by shop air. Shop vacs will be required to have HEPA filters. ( C16 shop does not have these) Be sure to wash your hands before eating, drinking, and smoking. Other products such as stainless steel contain chromium properties. Do not grind or weld stainless unless in a well ventilated area. Once again a respirator should be worn. This information was passed on to me by SFO IBT Ground Safety members, Ralph Ortiz and Mike Keating after attending a National Safety Council meeting late this year. After being informed by the IBT, our company was unaware of this existing hazard or its lowered standard. (initially 52 micrograms 1970, to present 5 micrograms 2006) I posted an article from Ralph Ortiz , SFO IBT Ground Safety Chairman on all the union boards 12/08. If you remember the drama movie, Erin Brockovich made in 2000, was based on her finding Hexavalent Chromium in the towns water supply. An example of 5 micrograms in the air; crushing an aspirin in the palm of your hand blowing the dust into a stadium the size of a football field. More on this as I find out. Tom
Friday, September 19, 2008
Smoking Policy Change/Mobile Lounges
From Tom Reid, Officer Flight/Ground Safety
09/18/08 2-7557 IBT Safety Office
On Sept. 10Th about 50 tenants from the airport attended the monthly MWAA Safety Meeting. Deputy Fire Marshal Fugate was present with his proposed smoking policy change. We took a vote to change the current smoking policy. I was the only one voting not to change the existing smoking policy, we lost. So effective Jan. 1st. 2009, smoking anywhere on the ramp will be prohibited, including D1 area. The smoking booths upstairs in the terminal will remain, but I don't think UAL will tolerate employees sharing these areas with paying passengers. But UAL and other tenants will be allowed to build special smoking rooms at there own expense. If you remember we had one before which became the OM's office. Any new smoking areas will have to be designated by the Authority Fire Code Enforcement Division as smoking areas.
FYI - Presently there are 1,100 security cameras on the airport. Cameras at entry points are activated with the swipe of your badge or if the door alarm is activated. If you inadvertently trip a door alarm call MWAA at 2-8585 to reset the alarm. Big brother is watching us....
As tenants of the airport we are entitled to challenge and record other employee badge numbers.
Last month (Aug.) at the MWAA safety meeting the committee had several questions concerning the ever dying dinosaurs, the Dulles Mobile Lounges. Ever been on a lounge that the brakes didn't squeak? At this months meeting, Mr Bill Tapp safety supervisor for lounges (25 years) gave a presentation about mobile lounges. The "Bud" lounges can travel up to 25mph, while the "Plane Mates", the ones with two towers on top, can reach speeds up to 30mph, and weigh upwards to 80,000 lbs. Dangers and pitfalls of lounge driving and ramp driving were discussed at length. The group pointed out the RED LINES designated as mobile lounge crossing areas are worn out at the C & D taxiways. Bill said these lines are on the list to be repainted before winter, but the paint crew was too busy last week removing "spilled yellow lines".
Anyone can call the lounge desk to report a driving incident,2-5722. Please remember to include in your report the lounge name (state) or number ***, date and time. It is very important to leave your name and contact number for MWAA to report there findings to you after there investigation. Call in - sooner the better.... Keep me in the loop, so I can follow up. Call me or leave a message about the incident at 2-7557. If you need a number for a call back , have the lounge office call me at 2-7557.
Later at the MWAA Safety Meeting, I asked for both lounge speeds to be reduced by 5 mph. Mr Bill Tapp didn't like that idea, stating lounges sometimes travel on taxiways and need to get off them asap. ??? This from the guy who couldn't tell me whether the lounges have speedometers, and or tachometers in the operators cab. Well, they have speedometers. We got the message the authority is reluctant to do anything with the lounges or spend money on them. Back in the 90's they fought my idea of LARGER turn signals and White Stripes on the tires. Jerry Kianka spear headed this with UAL equipment; ie: pushback tractors at IAD- bless his soul.
When the airport agreed to install larger turn signals, they dragged there feet for 9 months before the first installation. Their EVA for white stripes across lounge tires has fallen by the wayside. They understood why to install "White Stripes" across tires. The reason was for better visibility to indicating lounge movement. I reminded them to rekindle the stripe program, not to many of them are left. At no expense, I asked for lounges going to and from international arrival docks, C2-C1, to use safety flashers for better visibility to AOA drivers. Rumours from the MWAA mobile lounge repair shop, the airport sent back all spare parts for lounges as a cost saving measure. When one brakes down they wait for the part to arrive, or they cannibalize others. The world we live in ...did they hire some ex ual management??
As always drive defensively on the ramp, look out for wayward lounges. If need be, STOP, and let them go first. They don't stop very well and they are carrying our passengers. Report aggressive lounge drivers to 2-5722, leave the Name of the Lounge, or get the Number. Some lounge roadways are video taped and can be reviewed for incidents with proper date and time.
Talked with Gary Bozella about our present towing policy. For maintenance there are no qualifications just initial training. We discussed this item yesterday on the Teamster Flight / Safety conference call. Its been an issue system wide. I will update as soon as I hear anything.
Other items on the conference call; blood borne pathogens, Hep & Tetanus shots, AED's (DEFIB's) for the workplace (average UAL AMT is 50yrs.old). Hep shots should be optional and company paid. This will require interpretation of OHSA's exposure laws. Remember if we need one, AED's are on all planes when there at the gate, also at stores, and upstairs in all terminals. Grab an O2 while your there. But our other dept.s GQ and PV would need units for there locations, shop and bag room. A survival rate of 74% on average if correction is administered within the first 3 minutes of cardiac arrest. Chances of surviving cardiac arrest diminish 10 percent as every minute passes. Federal law, not the big U, require airliners to carry an external defibrillator on board, leading to a 40% survival rate for cardiac victims caught in transit.
The airport also offers free CPR classes from MWAA Fire & Rescue, but only during the day. Contact me if your interested. CPR instructions have changed. Rescue breathing now optional, chest compressions are more important.
Outsourcing and bad repairs. Whenever possible, if we see something done wrong lets document, fill out MSAP (make a copy), and take pictures. Download pictures off a company camera to your e-mail or a separate file for future reference. Call me at 2-7557.
Concrete cutting at night still an issue. I have some feed back from MWAA, but the contractors are giving me sweet wine. Playing point the finger at the other contractor. MWAA sent me the OSHA standards for monitoring dust, but I don't believe any contractor is monitoring outside on the ramp. Still pursuing.
Call me if your interested in getting involved as a Safety Rep.
I would like have someone from each shift - each department.
Fred Ghilain who was the Flight Safety Chairman is leaving UAL , Fred got a job with one of the local cities in the bay area.
That's all for now, Tom
also at http://iadsafety.blogger.com/
09/18/08 2-7557 IBT Safety Office
On Sept. 10Th about 50 tenants from the airport attended the monthly MWAA Safety Meeting. Deputy Fire Marshal Fugate was present with his proposed smoking policy change. We took a vote to change the current smoking policy. I was the only one voting not to change the existing smoking policy, we lost. So effective Jan. 1st. 2009, smoking anywhere on the ramp will be prohibited, including D1 area. The smoking booths upstairs in the terminal will remain, but I don't think UAL will tolerate employees sharing these areas with paying passengers. But UAL and other tenants will be allowed to build special smoking rooms at there own expense. If you remember we had one before which became the OM's office. Any new smoking areas will have to be designated by the Authority Fire Code Enforcement Division as smoking areas.
FYI - Presently there are 1,100 security cameras on the airport. Cameras at entry points are activated with the swipe of your badge or if the door alarm is activated. If you inadvertently trip a door alarm call MWAA at 2-8585 to reset the alarm. Big brother is watching us....
As tenants of the airport we are entitled to challenge and record other employee badge numbers.
Last month (Aug.) at the MWAA safety meeting the committee had several questions concerning the ever dying dinosaurs, the Dulles Mobile Lounges. Ever been on a lounge that the brakes didn't squeak? At this months meeting, Mr Bill Tapp safety supervisor for lounges (25 years) gave a presentation about mobile lounges. The "Bud" lounges can travel up to 25mph, while the "Plane Mates", the ones with two towers on top, can reach speeds up to 30mph, and weigh upwards to 80,000 lbs. Dangers and pitfalls of lounge driving and ramp driving were discussed at length. The group pointed out the RED LINES designated as mobile lounge crossing areas are worn out at the C & D taxiways. Bill said these lines are on the list to be repainted before winter, but the paint crew was too busy last week removing "spilled yellow lines".
Anyone can call the lounge desk to report a driving incident,2-5722. Please remember to include in your report the lounge name (state) or number ***, date and time. It is very important to leave your name and contact number for MWAA to report there findings to you after there investigation. Call in - sooner the better.... Keep me in the loop, so I can follow up. Call me or leave a message about the incident at 2-7557. If you need a number for a call back , have the lounge office call me at 2-7557.
Later at the MWAA Safety Meeting, I asked for both lounge speeds to be reduced by 5 mph. Mr Bill Tapp didn't like that idea, stating lounges sometimes travel on taxiways and need to get off them asap. ??? This from the guy who couldn't tell me whether the lounges have speedometers, and or tachometers in the operators cab. Well, they have speedometers. We got the message the authority is reluctant to do anything with the lounges or spend money on them. Back in the 90's they fought my idea of LARGER turn signals and White Stripes on the tires. Jerry Kianka spear headed this with UAL equipment; ie: pushback tractors at IAD- bless his soul.
When the airport agreed to install larger turn signals, they dragged there feet for 9 months before the first installation. Their EVA for white stripes across lounge tires has fallen by the wayside. They understood why to install "White Stripes" across tires. The reason was for better visibility to indicating lounge movement. I reminded them to rekindle the stripe program, not to many of them are left. At no expense, I asked for lounges going to and from international arrival docks, C2-C1, to use safety flashers for better visibility to AOA drivers. Rumours from the MWAA mobile lounge repair shop, the airport sent back all spare parts for lounges as a cost saving measure. When one brakes down they wait for the part to arrive, or they cannibalize others. The world we live in ...did they hire some ex ual management??
As always drive defensively on the ramp, look out for wayward lounges. If need be, STOP, and let them go first. They don't stop very well and they are carrying our passengers. Report aggressive lounge drivers to 2-5722, leave the Name of the Lounge, or get the Number. Some lounge roadways are video taped and can be reviewed for incidents with proper date and time.
Talked with Gary Bozella about our present towing policy. For maintenance there are no qualifications just initial training. We discussed this item yesterday on the Teamster Flight / Safety conference call. Its been an issue system wide. I will update as soon as I hear anything.
Other items on the conference call; blood borne pathogens, Hep & Tetanus shots, AED's (DEFIB's) for the workplace (average UAL AMT is 50yrs.old). Hep shots should be optional and company paid. This will require interpretation of OHSA's exposure laws. Remember if we need one, AED's are on all planes when there at the gate, also at stores, and upstairs in all terminals. Grab an O2 while your there. But our other dept.s GQ and PV would need units for there locations, shop and bag room. A survival rate of 74% on average if correction is administered within the first 3 minutes of cardiac arrest. Chances of surviving cardiac arrest diminish 10 percent as every minute passes. Federal law, not the big U, require airliners to carry an external defibrillator on board, leading to a 40% survival rate for cardiac victims caught in transit.
The airport also offers free CPR classes from MWAA Fire & Rescue, but only during the day. Contact me if your interested. CPR instructions have changed. Rescue breathing now optional, chest compressions are more important.
Outsourcing and bad repairs. Whenever possible, if we see something done wrong lets document, fill out MSAP (make a copy), and take pictures. Download pictures off a company camera to your e-mail or a separate file for future reference. Call me at 2-7557.
Concrete cutting at night still an issue. I have some feed back from MWAA, but the contractors are giving me sweet wine. Playing point the finger at the other contractor. MWAA sent me the OSHA standards for monitoring dust, but I don't believe any contractor is monitoring outside on the ramp. Still pursuing.
Call me if your interested in getting involved as a Safety Rep.
I would like have someone from each shift - each department.
Fred Ghilain who was the Flight Safety Chairman is leaving UAL , Fred got a job with one of the local cities in the bay area.
That's all for now, Tom
also at http://iadsafety.blogger.com/
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Safety Meetings & Pushbacks
As a requirement of our contract and OSHA regs, companies with more than ten employees will have monthly Safety Meetings. At Dulles we have our meeting on the second Tuesday of the month, usually an hour or longer. Who attends these meetings? UAL managers, workers, safety reps from different departments, along with vendors who support United's operation. All union groups ALPA, AFA, IAM, IBT, are expected to participate at these meetings. This is a great platform to discuss Safety issues not resolved at local levels, or Safety issues which involve other employee or tenants of the airport. All measures to resolve safety issues before reaching the safety meeting are encouraged. Keep me in the loop. Safety information such as construction , AOA issues (airport operation area), and community items (Plane Pull), are passed on to the reps for distribution. Our next meeting is Sept. 9, 12:00 at the flight ops. conference room. Anyone interested in attending the meeting please contact me.
I am also looking for safety reps from each shift, and every department represented by the Teamsters, to participate in our own Safety Team @ IAD. If you have any questions contact me at the D-10 office or call 2-7557. You may have seen me at different times of the day all over the airport, don't hesitate to stop me if you have a safety issue, or request information concerning a safety issue. Bob and I now have business cards with all pertinent info. on them. I quickly posted one up at the C gates union board. We're in the process of getting new literature for the D and Int. gates union boards.
United Safety meeting this Tues. 9Th @ 12:00 pilots conference room.
One item brought up at our last meeting included the taxiing of planes. The ramp, RSM or CG, use a locally agreed upon formula for manpower. They have two in the flt deck, one on the tractor, and one as a wing walker.
We have one in the flt deck (company regs), and one in the tractor. (day shift)
I bring this up because its been pointed out how maintenance operates. Also observed, maintenance pushes the AC off the gate with the tractor hooked up backwards to eliminate the step of stopping and turning the tractor around. I know driving a tractor backwards with a 747 off the gate takes a certain amount of skill and expertize, but its not kosher. Ramp uses the wing walker to assist in reversing the tractor to the proper direction for towing. We've also been observed pushing the AC off the gate with the tractor in the right position only to tow the AC with the tractor driven backwards. I'll have to check into this but I believe its against our procedures and airport ops.(human factor? its o k until until something happens). We need to follow common sense safety practices and go by company regs if this is the case. Ask for the third set of hands, avoid a safety risk. Other items for sure will be Air Wis driving, smoking areas, lounges, and the bag room.
UAL does say they want you to go home with the same amount of body parts you came in with....
The airport authority, MWAA, also conducts Safety and informational meetings where tenants can bring up safety and operational issues. Their monthly meeting is also next week on Wednesday, 1:30 pm @ the main terminal lower level conference rooms opposite the UAL bag carousels. I will bring to the table, the ongoing concrete cutting dust with the new runway 4 and C-D tarmac repair, resealing projects.The contractors I have talked to say they use water except Alliance. I still see the dust clouds night and day out there. More next week.
The Fire Marshall will also be there asking for a vote on proposed smoking policy change at IAD. He wants to make the whole airport smoke free. If it comes up I will vote for smoking in designated areas.
Be safe at work, on the road, and at home.
Tom
Friday, August 22, 2008
August 22, 2008 MWAA Issues
Welcome to my first blog posting. I will try to keep articles short and informative.
I've made several phone calls to MWAA Safety and Security concerning construction dust over the last two weeks. Not helping any, it is August and its been very dry. A lot of the dust is dirt stirred up from the construction equipment. As sections of runways taxiways are poured there are cure dates set. Afterwards the contractor will cut expansion gaps in the concrete, which according to one contractor has not happened in over a month. There are many contractors working on the field which is a problem in itself. Through several phone calls today I have found out (believe it or not), Alliance, the contractor doing the concrete crack repair, is not using water when they cut. Due to the nature of the product, an epoxy DEERY, wet cutting is counter productive to the setting process. They cut, pour, and cure, before the sun rises. Of course this is done on midnights to have less impact on the operation, but maybe there are other reasons as well. I believe contractors exposing employees to silica dust are required to do air sampling. I will be taking the matter up next week.
I've made several phone calls to MWAA Safety and Security concerning construction dust over the last two weeks. Not helping any, it is August and its been very dry. A lot of the dust is dirt stirred up from the construction equipment. As sections of runways taxiways are poured there are cure dates set. Afterwards the contractor will cut expansion gaps in the concrete, which according to one contractor has not happened in over a month. There are many contractors working on the field which is a problem in itself. Through several phone calls today I have found out (believe it or not), Alliance, the contractor doing the concrete crack repair, is not using water when they cut. Due to the nature of the product, an epoxy DEERY, wet cutting is counter productive to the setting process. They cut, pour, and cure, before the sun rises. Of course this is done on midnights to have less impact on the operation, but maybe there are other reasons as well. I believe contractors exposing employees to silica dust are required to do air sampling. I will be taking the matter up next week.
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