Around 1:30 pm inside a rendering plant, employees assigned to maintenance were working on a cooker taken offline subsequent to an overload. After verifying the pressure parameters and exposing the container to the outdoors, an employee remotely opened the unloading door to drain the device of its grease content. Once the desired flow rate had been reached, he turned off the control opening the guillotine door. The opening mechanism however remained active, resulting in liquid grease at 100°C spreading over the floor. The spattering grease burned 2 employees, 1 of them seriously. First responders took over; electricity supply to the workshop was cut. The grease was absorbed with sand and then transported to another Group site for treatment. The inspection authorities for classified facilities visited the plant the next day.

The device overload was caused by poor transmission of instructions the previous day at shift changeover. A 7-hour period was required to cool the cooker before drainage and verification of the pressure drop. Moreover, the device had been locked as of 6 am for scheduled maintenance service. The door malfunction was due to a deficiency in the cooker control panel. The plant operator provided an instructions transmission sheet along with a control logbook. The cooker was modified (with a 3-phase hopper) in order to secure the drainage of substances.