Narrative:

We are in the middle of a covid-19 pandemic. Why are we still insisting on using wing walker headsets in line stations? We don't have cross traffic; our push back alley is one way in and one way out. It has come out that this virus lives on inanimate objects like plastic for 72 hours and 42 hours on metal. Our wipes are only cleaning 65% of the germs off. My supervisor insisted it be worn and assured me he cleaned it off. I don't feel comfortable with his reassurances since coworkers are falling ill and some dying due to this disease. Why are we still putting agents at unnecessary risk? One possible solution; until this passes; is to use old fashioned hand signals.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier ramp agent expressed concern about wearing headsets that might be contaminated with coronavirus.

Narrative: We are in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic. Why are we still insisting on using wing walker headsets in line stations? We don't have cross traffic; our push back alley is one way in and one way out. It has come out that this virus lives on inanimate objects like plastic for 72 hours and 42 hours on metal. Our wipes are only cleaning 65% of the germs off. My supervisor insisted it be worn and assured me he cleaned it off. I don't feel comfortable with his reassurances since coworkers are falling ill and some dying due to this disease. Why are we still putting agents at unnecessary risk? One possible solution; until this passes; is to use old fashioned hand signals.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.