A microniser in a plastics recycling plant began overheating at around 2 a.m. Flames reached the piping and the air intake’s dust filter. Upon noting the presence of white smoke, the operator in charge of regularly replacing the big-bags of micronised materials raised the alarm. He informed a maintenance technician, who was also a first aid worker and member of the site’s first response team, who then alerted the maintenance manager. He then proceeded to shut down the machine, and shut off the building’s electrical power. He safely opened the filter and used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.

When the morning crew arrived at 5 a.m., they saw a significant amount of smoke resulting from the overheating microniser and the water used by the technician to bring the situation under control. Being unaware of the accident and the technician’s subsequent intervention, they called the fire brigade, who ventilated the premises with extractors and then left at 10:30 a.m.

The damage was caused by a combination of wear and tear on the microniser discs and an overloading of the equipment. These two elements led to overheating, and the lack of continuous monitoring of the line was an aggravating factor.

The microniser, piping and the associated suction conduit were all destroyed. The operator estimated the property damage to be at least €3000.

Following the accident, the operator improved the PLC’s programming, including the installation of a temperature sensor on the piping and set up an on-call safety protocol and safety training for its personnel.