A fire broke out at 10:30 am in a bucket containing 10 litres of a mixture containing acetone in the workshop for packaging adhesives and resins in a factory producing items for the care and maintenance of equipment and machinery. The facility’s power supply was cut and 40 employees had to be evacuated. Company staff extinguished the fire in 15 minutes using the fire hose and extinguishers before the emergency services arrived.

Seven slightly intoxicated employees were taken to hospital. Property damage was minor: an office and a bucket were destroyed, and an electrical cable was damaged.

The investigation revealed that the mixing operation, performed in order to dissolve resin, was not carried out within the enclosure dedicated to manufacturing operations; failure to respect the assigned procedure was the cause of this accident. Following the accident, the operator had plans to implement: a new employee awareness programme on good manufacturing practices, an additional mixer in an area suitable for the handling of volatile products (beneath a ventilated hood), improved monitoring of specific manufacturing processes, and reinforcement of first responder intervention training for staff in case of fire.