Narrative:

I was assigned to work mic items on [an] aircraft. The aircraft had arrived earlier that day; approximately [3 hours earlier]. The aircraft sat on gate for several hours before I was assigned to work on it. While [completing] paperwork; the logbook is located in the L2 galley area. I noticed an unknown substance on the ceiling and the panel above the food preparation counter in the L2 galley. The color of the unknown substance is brownish to gray film and is also sprayed inside the galley overhead speaker and lights. Numerous aircraft have lately been identified with an unknown substance in the cabin and cargo compartments. In our hazardous training; company policy and procedure is to contact the environmental coordinator to identify the unknown substance and consult with the product's material safety data sheet before attempting to clean and release the aircraft back to revenue service. None of this was done. An [aircraft] cleaner was told by management to clean it off. No personal protective equipment was used by [the cleaner]. I witnessed him clean the area with a spray can and paper towels; most of the unknown substance was removed from the aircraft galley and the used paper towels disposed of in the jet bridge garbage can. The aircraft logbook mic was signed off by [the] supervisor and the aircraft departed.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Technician reported violation of Company Hazmat cleanup procedures regarding gray film in the L2 galley area.

Narrative: I was assigned to work mic items on [an] aircraft. The aircraft had arrived earlier that day; approximately [3 hours earlier]. The aircraft sat on gate for several hours before I was assigned to work on it. While [completing] paperwork; the logbook is located in the L2 galley area. I noticed an unknown substance on the ceiling and the panel above the food preparation counter in the L2 galley. The color of the unknown substance is brownish to gray film and is also sprayed inside the galley overhead speaker and lights. Numerous aircraft have lately been identified with an unknown substance in the cabin and cargo compartments. In our hazardous training; Company policy and procedure is to contact the Environmental Coordinator to identify the unknown substance and consult with the product's Material Safety Data Sheet before attempting to clean and release the aircraft back to revenue service. None of this was done. An [aircraft] cleaner was told by Management to clean it off. No personal protective equipment was used by [the cleaner]. I witnessed him clean the area with a spray can and paper towels; most of the unknown substance was removed from the aircraft galley and the used paper towels disposed of in the jet bridge garbage can. The aircraft logbook mic was signed off by [the] Supervisor and the aircraft departed.

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.