Sunday, December 26, 2010

TSA Laziness-Induced Security Lapse

While flying out of a NYC airport I observed something that is hard to consider anything other than a TSA laziness-induced security lapse.

I passed through security without setting off the metal detector. A female who I was traveling with was not so lucky. I saw her set off the alarm as I was putting my shoes back on. Her husband, who had also passed through the detector without incident, was collecting scanned bags oblivious his wife was about to receive the 'enhanced pat down'. I got his attention and told him to go tell his wife to request the agent put on a new pair of gloves. She was in that special glass-walled-off section where the pat downs are administered. He walks over, gets her attention, and tells her to make the request. Multiple TSA personnel heard the man, including the agent, it appeared to me would eventually give the pat down to his wife. Instead of giving what I understand is a mandatory pat down if someone sets of the metal detector, the agent took her to the conveyor belt to pick out her shoes. The agent took the shoes to do a secondary bomb screening. The women was not subjected to any further examination; not wanded, not sent to go through the detector again, not Naked Body scanned, and not given a pat down of any kind. She was allowed to continue on as if the metal detector had not gone off in the first place.

Now this lady was not a security threat; I know that, but TSA did not. This lady was unarmed (no knives, guns, metallic bats...); I know that, but TSA did not. All they knew was that a person set off the metal detector, and they let her pass without any further inquiry. If this was the result of an oversight or some mistake it would be bad enough. Instead it appears to be an intentional lapse because someone did not want to be bothered with the task of tracking down a new pair of gloves.

I have clearly distinguished the events/facts from my opinion. She set the detector off, was pulled aside for additional screening, and was let go without that follow up screening right after the TSA agent knew she wanted a fresh set of gloves. What other conclusions could be drawn?

13 comments:

  1. Everyone should ask for new gloves as this is a serious health hazard. It is unbelievable that TSA is not doing this already.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The gloves are to protect the TSA agents, not you. So why should they be worried about the outside of their gloves being contaminated with something?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gloves are SUPPOSED to be there to protect BOTH of us (ask anyone who works in a hospital; I routinely start my shift by stuffing a wad of gloves in my back pocket and refill regularly).

    Anyone who says otherwise is not simply negligent, they are CRIMINAL and should be treated as such. For example, if someone tried to touch me with contaminated gloves, I would by necessity be forced to presume they were contaminated with a lethal disease, and that the person was conducting a potentially lethal assault on me - and would respond accordingly, exercising my natural right to self-defense against potentially lethal attack.

    Yet another reason I don't fly. If I need to be anywhere in CONUS, I'll drive - otherwise, I don't need to be there. That's what the IntarWebs are for - video conferencing, no gloves, no muss, no fuss.

    Besides, the rest of the world (including Alaska and Hawaii) is full of dirty barbarians. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous, are you serious about putting gloves in your pockets?
    Your pockets will contaminate those gloves and then you spread what every is in your pockets. I strongly suggest you re-educate yourself about the CDC protocol and the use of gloves.
    What you are doing endangers the patients you are to be taking care of.
    There should be boxes of fresh gloves located every where you work, every room you go into.

    ReplyDelete
  5. When I was forced to receive the pat-down, I asked for new gloves. The agent got new gloves, which he swabbed after wards for explosives. It was early in the morning, and I was the only one in line, so when I went through, there were giving pat-downs to every one in line.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The possibility for the transmission of various skin diseases and other communicable diseases increase exponentially with enhanced pat down procedures.Most of the flying public think they are protected because of gloves wore by the TSA, when in fact the TSA implemented the use of gloves to protect their agents not the flying public. It has been researched that most airports allow only one pair of gloves per agent per shift unless there is a breach in the gloves. We could only find one reference where the TSA Supervisor would allow his agents to put on a fresh pair of gloves if the flyer requested it. How many times have you seen a TSA agent touch the outside of bags, soles of shoes, inside of bags that have personal items which include dirty underwear, wet bathing suits etc and then move on to touch items in the next persons bag to be checked? Have you ever noticed a TSA employee in the bathroom with their gloves on and then walk out and go back on duty? These same agents are also moved from one station to another and they may now begin to use the same gloves to perform physical contact with the bodies of fliers, one after another.

    I asked the glove question of a CDC employee who is a Public Health Official. I was told that whenever there is skin-to-skin contact with the traveler and the TSA gloved agent, those gloves should be changed before the next traveler is touched. While the risk maybe minimal for skin-to-skin disease transfer, it is NOT "0" and the risk increases with the more people they touch with those same gloves. There is also increased risk for people with cancer, immune system problems and other chronic diseases.


    I am concerned that the TSA enhanced pat-down process has the potential to be a major health problem. I have watched every video I can find and not once did I ever see a TSA employee change their gloves between passengers. What most do not understand is that gloves are meant to be worn to protect patients from the chances of picking up infection from another person. Do you know where the clothes of the last 20 people in the TSA pat-down line have been, what they have touched or brushed-up against in a public restroom? They run their gloved hands around the inside of your pants and touch your skin, up and down bare legs and arms, touch your head, face and neck, yet not one changed their gloves. My husband recently traveled to Washington and said he did not see one TSA employee changed their gloves. Bacteria is on the skin of every person and while it may not affect you, it could affect another person, especially those that have weakened immune systems, had recent surgery or other medical problems

    The CDC recommends that if a traveler is concerned, they should ask the TSA to please change their gloves and that the TSA should comply with your wishes.


    After additional research on the OSHA website I came across this:
    1910.1030(d)(3)(ix)Gloves. Gloves shall be worn when it can be reasonably anticipated that the employee may have hand contact with blood, other potentially infectious materials, mucous membranes, and non-intact skin; when performing vascular access procedures except as specified in paragraph (d)(3)(ix)(D); and when handling or touching contaminated items or surfaces.

    While OSHA is trying to protect the worker, where is the line crossed when it comes to Public Health?



    If the CDC or State Health Agency did a non alert spot check of an airport TSA security area and swabbed the gloves of those TSA employees after 4 hours, what could we expect to find growing in the Petri-dish? Hospitals around the country are having trouble controlling staph and MRSA infections for patients. What comfort do we, the flying public have that the TSA is really protecting us so we have a safe flight? Shouldn’t a safe flight also include the safety of our health?

    ReplyDelete
  7. The possibility for the transmission of various skin diseases and other communicable diseases increase exponentially with enhanced pat down procedures.

    Most of the flying public think they are protected because of gloves wore by the TSA, when in fact the TSA implemented the use of gloves to protect their agents not the flying public. It has been researched that most airports allow only one pair of gloves per agent per shift unless there is a breach in the gloves. We could only find one reference where the TSA Supervisor would allow his agents to put on a fresh pair of gloves if the flyer requested it. How many times have you seen a TSA agent touch the outside of bags, soles of shoes, inside of bags that have personal items which include dirty underwear, wet bathing suits etc and then move on to touch items in the next persons bag to be checked? Have you ever noticed a TSA employee in the bathroom with their gloves on and then walk out and go back on duty? These same agents are also moved from one station to another and they may now begin to use the same gloves to perform physical contact with the bodies of fliers, one after another.


    I asked the glove question of a CDC employee who is a Public Health Official. I was told that whenever there is skin-to-skin contact with the traveler and the TSA gloved agent, those gloves should be changed before the next traveler is touched. While the risk maybe minimal for skin-to-skin disease transfer, it is NOT "0" and the risk increases with the more people they touch with those same gloves. There is also increased risk for people with cancer, immune system problems and other chronic diseases.


    I am concerned that the TSA enhanced pat-down process has the potential to be a major health problem. I have watched every video I can find and not once did I ever see a TSA employee change their gloves between passengers. What most do not understand is that gloves are meant to be worn to protect patients from the chances of picking up infection from another person. Do you know where the clothes of the last 20 people in the TSA pat-down line have been, what they have touched or brushed-up against in a public restroom? They run their gloved hands around the inside of your pants and touch your skin, up and down bare legs and arms, touch your head, face and neck, yet not one changed their gloves. My husband recently traveled to Washington and said he did not see one TSA employee changed their gloves. Bacteria is on the skin of every person and while it may not affect you, it could affect another person, especially those that have weakened immune systems, had recent surgery or other medical problems

    The CDC recommends that if a traveler is concerned, they should ask the TSA to please change their gloves and that the TSA should comply with your wishes.

    If the CDC or State Health Agency did a non alert spot check of an airport TSA security area and swabbed the gloves of those TSA employees after 4 hours, what could we expect to find growing in the Petri-dish? Hospitals around the country are having trouble controlling staph and MRSA infections for patients. What comfort do we, the flying public have that the TSA is really protecting us so we have a safe flight? Shouldn’t a safe flight also include the safety of our health?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Most of the flying public think they are protected because of gloves wore by the TSA, when in fact the TSA implemented the use of gloves to protect their agents not the flying public. It has been researched that most airports allow only one pair of gloves per agent per shift unless there is a breach in the gloves. We could only find one reference where the TSA Supervisor would allow his agents to put on a fresh pair of gloves if the flyer requested it. How many times have you seen a TSA agent touch the outside of bags, soles of shoes, inside of bags that have personal items which include dirty underwear, wet bathing suits etc and then move on to touch items in the next persons bag to be checked? Have you ever noticed a TSA employee in the bathroom with their gloves on and then walk out and go back on duty? These same agents are also moved from one station to another and they may now begin to use the same gloves to perform physical contact with the bodies of fliers, one after another.


    I asked the glove question of a CDC employee who is a Public Health Official. I was told that whenever there is skin-to-skin contact with the traveler and the TSA gloved agent, those gloves should be changed before the next traveler is touched. While the risk maybe minimal for skin-to-skin disease transfer, it is NOT "0" and the risk increases with the more people they touch with those same gloves. There is also increased risk for people with cancer, immune system problems and other chronic diseases.

    The CDC recommends that if a traveler is concerned, they should ask the TSA to please change their gloves and that the TSA should comply with your wishes.


    After additional research on the OSHA website I came across this:
    1910.1030(d)(3)(ix)Gloves. Gloves shall be worn when it can be reasonably anticipated that the employee may have hand contact with blood, other potentially infectious materials, mucous membranes, and non-intact skin; when performing vascular access procedures except as specified in paragraph (d)(3)(ix)(D); and when handling or touching contaminated items or surfaces.

    Do we think that “handling or touching contaminated items or surfaces” would include the above mentioned items being handled by TSA employees? While OSHA is trying to protect the worker, where is the line crossed when it comes to Public Health?



    If the CDC or State Health Agency did a non alert spot check of an airport TSA security area and swabbed the gloves of those TSA employees after 4 hours, what could we expect to find growing in the Petri-dish? Hospitals around the country are having trouble controlling staph and MRSA infections for patients. What comfort do we, the flying public have that the TSA is really protecting us so we have a safe flight? Shouldn’t a safe flight also include the safety of our health?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I asked the glove question of a CDC employee who is a Public Health Official. I was told that whenever there is skin-to-skin contact with the traveler and the TSA gloved agent, those gloves should be changed before the next traveler is touched. While the risk maybe minimal for skin-to-skin disease transfer, it is NOT "0" and the risk increases with the more people they touch with those same gloves. There is also increased risk for people with cancer, immune system problems and other chronic diseases.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I would by necessity be forced to presume they were contaminated with a lethal disease, and that the person was conducting a potentially lethal assault on me

    ReplyDelete
  11. The TSA knew the lady wasn't a security risk, they just had to perform their theater, and as soon as it created them extra work, they didn't care to perform the theater anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  12. It was the metal in her shoes, those metal reinforcements in the arch of her shoes, that set off the metal detector. Happens to me all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  13. But newssleuth, I thought we all had to remove our shoes before passing through the detectors?

    I agree with anonymous, although the TSA may act like they have no common sense, clearly they do have at least a tiny little bit. They knew the woman wasn't a threat and didn't want to bother with the continuation of their performance and so let her go.

    ReplyDelete

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