Originally Posted by HSVTSO Dean

Ah, got'cha'. We kind of had a little disconnect there with regards to that. The rule TSA has in place, requiring TSOs to change their gloves upon request with no questions asked (officially, anyway) was set in place with an interest in the public's health in mind. That wasn't how this conversation started though. It was being advocated to use the protocol set up in the interest of public health and peace of mind as a way, specifically, to bludgeon TSOs for having to do their jobs. It was, in effect, being made personal at that point.



Back when TSA first started, gloves were provided (and here in HSV, they were made out of vinyl, and they really, really sucked) but, for all practical purposes, they were optional unless a passenger specifically requested you to wear gloves. Following an incident in the north-east somewhere (it's been years, my memory's rusty on that specific tidbit of information) a screener acquired a staph infection from a passenger during screening, and the wearing of gloves (which specifically block biological contaminants) became mandatory.

Later, as a result of countless numbers of cuts and other minor injuries (such as from a broken screw protruding from the bottom of a passenger's bag, and encountered during normal screening functions), TSA adopted the nitrile gloves, since nitrile provides some low-impact cut resistance. The glove itself absorbs the cut, leaving the skin beneath untouched (though, speaking from experience, even in the absence of skin breakage, it still hurts).

And, is it just me, or is FT having some database problems here just now?