OSHA Issues Citations Against Prospect Airport Services

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Robby Davis, GolocalPDX Contributor

In March Portland airport workers came together and filed a formal complaint against Prospect Airport Services regarding the conditions in which they were required to work. After the complaint was filed The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) began an investigation.

OSHA has now officially issued "serious" safety and health citations against this company operating at the Portland International Airport. These citations were issued for:

Lack of Personal Protective Equipment eye and face protection, and adequate gloves while cleaning toilet
Inadequate seat belts in vans used to transport workers between planes
Electrical hazards in the employee break room
Non-compliance with Oregon’s safety committee rules

In addition to the citations, a warning letter was also submitted by Oregon OSHA that included recommendations for improving the mobile stairs that are frequently used by cabin cleaners to board airplanes at night. It is also expected that OSHA will issue additional details of their inspection regarding other hazards that were brought to their attention.

“These are serious service issues that have been raised. Hopefully, Prospect chooses to comply,” stated Jesse Stemmler, a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 49 representative.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Prospect Airport Services has been cited.

This past September, five cabin cleaners who worked for the Detroit Metro airport were sent to the hospital after being in an accident that occurred in a company van. The year before that a Prospect cabin cleaner fell out of an open aircraft door and onto a concrete floor. The fall was between 15 and 20 feet, and resulted in a fractured hip, arm and wrist. Prospect faced multiple citations from Michigan OSHA for improper protections of workers’ safety in both cases.

“It is for reasons like these that workers across PDX airport are coming together to form our union,” said Heather Pavlich, a Prospect cabin cleaner. “We want contractors operating at our airport not only to provide a safe working environment, but provide living wage jobs that our community can be proud of.”

For more information please click HERE.

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OSHA Issues Citations Against Prospect Airport Services

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