Union, DOTS squabble over vomit policy

DOTS' vomit clean-up policies have been given the go-ahead by a state agency, officials said, but union members still question whether workers are being put at risk for disease.

In December, Maryland Occupational Safety and Health officials cited the Department of Transportation Services for improperly cleaning up vomit and endangering students and bus drivers. But after a meeting between DOTS officials and the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, the citations were downgraded from "serious" violations to the lower category of "other."

DOTS said the citations never should have been issued in the first place and were based on a clerical mistake. Bus drivers, DOTS Director David Allen said, were accidentally placed on a list of university employees who are exposed to blood-borne pathogens, which requires them to be trained in blood-cleaning techniques. DOTS maintained that the drivers never needed to be trained to clean blood-borne pathogens — which are contained in vomit — because they weren't regularly exposed to them in the first place.

"The policies of DOTS regarding bus clean-up have been determined to exceed expectations and employees were in no way in danger," DOTS said in a statement issued Monday.

Union officials strongly disagreed, arguing that in other jobs where exposure to blood-borne pathogens is rare, workers are still required to have a minimum knowledge of blood clean-up procedures.

"Whether or not it was a typo, with the frequency with vomiting on these buses, and the frequency is pretty damn high ... [the drivers] should have been put on the list no matter what," said Craig Newman, the secretary-treasurer of the university's chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

MOSH officials said the reduction of the citations was primarily a result of DOTS' efforts to enlist the help of another company which is trained in proper cleaning techniques and the removal of bus drivers from the blood exposure list, DLLR spokesman Bernie Kohn said.

"They proposed after the initial citation [MOSH issued] was to take the bus drivers out of that protocol and have the outside crews, which was obviously important to us," Kohn said. "Now the bus drivers don't have to be brought in on that, which we think is beneficial."

Newman expressed doubt about the reliability of DOTS' clean-up efforts, saying that cleaning crews are only called on the weekends while bus drivers are still forced to clean on the weekdays.

"DOTS doesn't want to pay money [to the contractor] so they fall back on people we represent," Newman said.

The December citations were filed against DOTS for failing to create a written schedule outlining when Shuttle-UM buses would be cleaned and decontaminated, for not properly training employees for exposure to dangerous blood-borne pathogens and for not administering hepatitis B vaccinations to employees who have to clean the buses.

The citations were branded "severe" because of alleged practices that created "a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result." The citations have now been identified as "other" violations, which are considered less serious.

Union officials are hopeful that the reduction in charges will not cause DOTS to neglect the safety of its passengers.

"Because MOSH reduced the severity of the violation charge doesn't mean the health issue is any less important," Newman said. "But that's what DOTS wants us to believe: that it is less important. It has the potential to affect hundreds of thousands of people. If you want to talk about odds, it's 50-50, but even slight is enough. Because more often than not, if we are exposed, it's because of an incredibly rare event."

korkut@umdbk.com