Of the many things discussed at the June Monthly meeting, I was appalled to hear of the Companies continued and blatant disregard for your personal safety. Princess Cruises ship, the Island Princess, experienced a significant outbreak of Norwalk virus this past week. The ship received extensive cleaning in Skagway, and the Center for Disease Control monitored the ships sailing to Vancouver, BC. Given the gestation period of the virus, particularly in closed environments such as cruise ships and motor coaches, that monitoring could only conclude rather passengers or crew experienced symptoms during the voyage. According to the CDC website, cruise ships have been known to experience outbreaks up to twelve cruises in duration, in spite of rigorous cleaning.
Cruise Ships (From CDC Website)
Passengers and crew members on cruise ships and naval vessels are frequently
affected by outbreaks of NLV (Norwalk Like Virus) gastroenteritis (35,92,93 ). These ships dock in countries where levels of sanitation might be inadequate, thus increasing the risk for contamination of water and food taken aboard or for having a passenger board with an active infection. After a passenger or crew member brings the virus on board, the close living quarters on ships amplify opportunities for person-to-person transmission. Furthermore, the arrival of new and susceptible passengers every 1 or 2 weeks on affected cruise ships provides an opportunity for sustained transmission during successive cruises. NLV outbreaks extending beyond 12 successive cruises have been reported (94 ).
Furthermore, proper cleaning of contaminated environment is essential. For a Cruise Ship outbreak, the CDC sends a sanitation crew to stay aboard the ship to monitor cleaning, sanitation, and the following cruise!
Person-to-Person Transmission (From CDC Website)
Person-to-person spread of NLVs occurs by direct fecal-oral and airborne transmission. Such transmission plays a role in propagating NLV disease outbreaks, notably in institutional settings (e.g., nursing homes and day care centers) and on cruise ships. Although interruption of person-to-person transmission can be difficult, certain measures might help. Frequent hand washing with soap and water is an effective means of prevention. The recommended procedure is to rub all surfaces of lathered hands together vigorously for >10 seconds and then thoroughly rinse the hands under a stream of water. Because spattering or aerosols of infectious material might be involved in disease transmission, wearing masks should be considered for persons who clean areas substantially contaminated by feces or vomitus (e.g., hospital or nursing home personnel). Soiled linens and clothes should be handled as little as possible and with minimum agitation. They should be laundered with detergent at the maximum available cycle length and then machine dried. Because environmental surfaces have been implicated in the transmission of enteric viruses, surfaces that have been soiled should be cleaned with an appropriate germicidal product (e.g., 10% solution of household bleach) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In situations in which the epidemic is extended by periodic renewal of the susceptible population (e.g., camps and cruise ships), the facility or institution might have to be closed until it can be cleaned appropriately.
Many of you were dispatched to retrieve passengers from the Island Princess without knowledge of, or warning from the Company, whom knew about this condition days before you were dispatched! Additionally, when one driver returned to the yard and informed wash rack personnel the coach had been involved in a potentially contaminated Norwalk environment, our wash rack personnel were instructed to enter the coach with a simple aerosol spray and "do your best". At this time, I am researching the proper cleaning directions and cannot dispute the validity of this approach, however common sense would lead one to believe these measures fall short of what is needed. As you read above, the CDC recommends a mask, and all surfaces should be cleaned with a germicidal product. I doubt spraying an aerosol satisfies that. I have it on reputable authority another local motor coach company infected their entire wash crew by failing to safely handle Norwalk Virus. That entire crew was seriously ill and off work for one week.
This Company has a Moral and Contractual obligation to provide a safe work place. Multiple days knowledge prior to sending you into an unsafe situation without even warning you does not meet my expectations of a safe work environment. Should any of you find yourself an unfortunate recipient of this Company's shameful neglect, I'll be only to happy to assist in finding a competent Attorney.
Brian Donald