B737 captain reported ramp personnel opened the cargo door with the left engine still running.

Attributes
ACN	1505147
Time
Date	201711
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	APU
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 16000 Flight Crew Type 4700
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural MEL

Narrative:

Blocked in gate with left engine running due to deferred APU [with the] beacon still on. Had to wait (not long) for loading bridge to be positioned at door 1L before external power cord could be extended and connected to shutdown running engine. Ramp opened cargo doors to begin unloading with engine still running and beacon on. After shutdown and checklists; I went down to the ramp to discuss my concerns about opening the door before engine shutdown with the ramp crew. Ramp lead told me they were allowed 3 minutes from block in to start scanning bags coming off the plane. Safety and schedule are in major conflict here. Further; the decision to continue this plane along its routing with the inoperative APU raises the possibility of damage or injury along the way.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reported ramp personnel opened the cargo door with the left engine still running.

Narrative: Blocked in gate with left engine running due to deferred APU [with the] beacon still on. Had to wait (not long) for loading bridge to be positioned at door 1L before external power cord could be extended and connected to shutdown running engine. Ramp opened cargo doors to begin unloading with engine still running and beacon on. After shutdown and checklists; I went down to the ramp to discuss my concerns about opening the door before engine shutdown with the ramp crew. Ramp Lead told me they were allowed 3 minutes from block in to start scanning bags coming off the plane. Safety and schedule are in major conflict here. Further; the decision to continue this plane along its routing with the INOP APU raises the possibility of damage or injury along the way.

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.