Inspection Detail

Inspection: 104420369 - United Parcel Service

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 entered the confines of an aircraft hold to remove packages and noticed an odor but continued to unload. The supervisor viewed some wet packages but did not stop unloading. A 5-gallon container of a product containing a cyclicamine and solvent had spilled and saturated other packages. Employee #2, a ground worker, handled the wet packages without the appropriate gloves. After unloading the packages, Employees #1 and #2 began to suffer from exposure. An ambulance was called and Employees #1 and #2 were hospitalized. The fire department was notified of a hazardous material spill and initiated an emergency response. Later, an outside contractor was called to clean the aircraft's hold and package container. Emergency response procedures did not address the specifics of the potential of enclosed-space exposures related to an aircraft. The employees' emergency response did not include an initiation of an incident command system, safety official, use of SCBAs, a buddy system, etc.

Keywords: AIRCRAFT, PPE, GLOVE, WORK RULES, INHALATION, SCBA, SPILL, CHEMICAL VAPOR, OVEREXPOSURE