Narrative:

6 or 7 of my co-workers and I were assigned to assist in the clean-up of a major hydraulic fluid spill which occurred on [a] taxiway. If I have ever been trained on this type of spill it was probably on a recurring computer training module at some point in my 10 year career. At any rate; once we arrived on the scene we found a spill which expanded approximately 150 yards in length and about 12 inches in width and were instructed to 'go get more brooms and sand' from one of our co-workers. No supervisor or manager anywhere to my knowledge. Meanwhile the airport operation vehicles were guarding each end of the spill borders and the aircraft traffic was being diverted. My co-worker and I found a fuel spill cart and brought it back to the scene and began dumping the sand (solid sorb) in windy conditions onto the spill. It took us approximately an hour to clean up and mop up the spill. At one point towards the end of the clean-up a supervisor arrived and I asked him if he could please bring us some water. Once we were finished we were immediately assigned to resume to our duties on the ramp; which was to unload [a] flight; then load [a] departure flight. While performing our job duties my lead and I both started feeling very sick. Light headed; dizzy; throat burning; closing-in feeling throat; nausea; and unquenchable thirst. We went to our supervisor's office and were taken to medical office because at this point we were very concerned about our symptoms. My co-worker actually vomited when we arrived to [the medical office]. We were checked out by medical professionals and were told that we should have been using respirators at best or niosh approved dust masks. We were told that we will be sick for some time; that we need to wash from head to toe and remove our uniforms as soon as possible.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier ramp employee reported becoming ill after cleaning up a hydraulic spill without using a respirator or mask.

Narrative: 6 or 7 of my co-workers and I were assigned to assist in the clean-up of a major hydraulic fluid spill which occurred on [a] taxiway. If I have ever been trained on this type of spill it was probably on a recurring computer training module at some point in my 10 year career. At any rate; once we arrived on the scene we found a spill which expanded approximately 150 yards in length and about 12 inches in width and were instructed to 'go get more brooms and sand' from one of our co-workers. No Supervisor or Manager anywhere to my knowledge. Meanwhile the Airport Operation vehicles were guarding each end of the spill borders and the aircraft traffic was being diverted. My co-worker and I found a fuel spill cart and brought it back to the scene and began dumping the sand (Solid Sorb) in windy conditions onto the spill. It took us approximately an hour to clean up and mop up the spill. At one point towards the end of the clean-up a Supervisor arrived and I asked him if he could please bring us some water. Once we were finished we were immediately assigned to resume to our duties on the ramp; which was to unload [a] flight; then load [a] departure flight. While performing our job duties my lead and I both started feeling very sick. Light headed; dizzy; throat burning; closing-in feeling throat; nausea; and unquenchable thirst. We went to our Supervisor's office and were taken to medical office because at this point we were very concerned about our symptoms. My co-worker actually vomited when we arrived to [the medical office]. We were checked out by medical professionals and were told that we should have been using respirators at best or NIOSH approved dust masks. We were told that we will be sick for some time; that we need to wash from head to toe and remove our uniforms as soon as possible.

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.