Narrative:

Working alone places mechanics in unsafe situations due to the nature of their chaotic; highly mechanical work environment. For an example the hangar shop is isolated so if something happened to the person working alone; they might not be found for a while. Also on X concourse at the operation; we currently have 1 lead and 2 techs on day shift. We cover the terminal and the Y concourse; too dangerous to go alone due to high traffic and activity all around as well as noisy environment; making it necessary to have a buddy system to alert 911. In that said when we leave to go to Y concourse or terminal the lead at the X concourse is by himself. The traffic around the area makes it far too dangerous to be out on a call by oneself; besides most calls require two guys. The shop has a welding shop which has 1 welder assigned. Currently there are 2 guys in there with the welder; however they are also assigned to the paint shop. More time than not the welder is by himself. Recently our welder was seriously injured. Thank god there were 3 guys in the shop with him; they saved his life. In the past I spent many years working at the hangar shop. On some days you don't see anyone come in to your shop. An aircraft tech fell out of the pit of an aircraft and suffered a head injury. A technician found him. Another incident in the basement of the X concourse there was a technician who was hit by a passing bag cart and left for dead. He is still out of work. Last year one of our technicians was at the hangar outside in a snow storm; slipped and fell; cracked his head open. Fortunately he had another tech with him to call 911 so he could be transported to the hospital in a timely manner. A bleeding or non-breathing employee requires immediate medical attention.never assign employees to work alone in hazardous environments. This includes isolated shops; the X concourse; the Y concourse; the terminal; the hangar shop and also the welding/paint shops.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier mechanic reported that often mechanics are assigned tasks alone which can have dire consequences if a seriously inured were to occur.

Narrative: Working alone places mechanics in unsafe situations due to the nature of their chaotic; highly mechanical work environment. For an example the Hangar shop is isolated so if something happened to the person working alone; they might not be found for a while. Also on X concourse at the operation; we currently have 1 lead and 2 techs on day shift. We cover the terminal and the Y concourse; too dangerous to go alone due to high traffic and activity all around as well as noisy environment; making it necessary to have a buddy system to alert 911. In that said when we leave to go to Y concourse or terminal the lead at the X concourse is by himself. The traffic around the area makes it far too dangerous to be out on a call by oneself; besides most calls require two guys. The shop has a welding shop which has 1 welder assigned. Currently there are 2 guys in there with the welder; however they are also assigned to the paint shop. More time than not the welder is by himself. Recently our welder was seriously injured. Thank God there were 3 guys in the shop with him; they saved his life. In the past I spent many years working at the hangar shop. On some days you don't see anyone come in to your shop. An aircraft tech fell out of the pit of an aircraft and suffered a head injury. A Technician found him. Another incident in the basement of the X concourse there was a Technician who was hit by a passing bag cart and left for dead. He is still out of work. Last year one of our Technicians was at the hangar outside in a snow storm; slipped and fell; cracked his head open. Fortunately he had another tech with him to call 911 so he could be transported to the hospital in a timely manner. A bleeding or non-breathing employee requires immediate medical attention.Never assign employees to work alone in hazardous environments. This includes isolated shops; The X concourse; the Y concourse; the Terminal; the Hangar Shop and also the welding/paint shops.

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.