At around 2:00 p.m. in a chemical plant, while unloading a truck with a forklift, a warehouse worker dropped a pallet of four 200-litre drums containing 50% hydrofluoric acid (HF). The force of the impact caused one of the four drums to open, spilling 200 litres of acid.

The internal emergency plan was activated and the site’s first response team closed off the sewers to contain the product. The area was marked out, and ten employees were confined. Absorbent material was placed around the area to prevent the acid from spreading, and the three undamaged drums were removed from the area. The in-house responders were able to neutralise the spill with lime and soda, which were then pumped off. The contaminated absorbents were then loaded into a container for subsequent disposal by an authorised company. The incident was brought under control by 4 p.m.

Firefighters conducted atmospheric tests in the spillage area, which turned out to be negative. At 4:30 p.m., the water department conducted pH measurements in the sewers near the plant. No pollution was detected outside the site’s perimeter.

According to the operator, less than 10 l of acid had entered the sewers before shutters were sealed off. The economic loss was estimated at €14,000, including the merchandise, the use of the intervention equipment and a half day of operating losses.

According to the analysis of the accident, three causes were identified:

• the warehouse worker’s disregard for the rules governing unloading operations,
• use of an unsuitable unloading area: non-level and confined unloading area,
• congestion in the yard, with three lorries present at the same time.

The following corrective measures were undertaken by the operator:

• identification of loading areas and areas prohibited for unloading,
• unloading limited to one truck at a time,
• the entry of trucks into the yard is limited to avoid congestion of the work area,
• verification of the stock clerks’ knowledge of the unloading procedure,
• instructions clearly displayed,
• ADR (Accord for Dangerous goods by Road) training and familiarisation of the chemical risks faced by operators and warehouse workers.