Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

Shortly after midnight, in a detergent manufacturing facility, a fire broke out in a big-bag containing 2.4 tonnes of detergent fines. The vacuum system on the pellet manufacturing unit’s production recovered the fines comprised of detergent pellets and powder waste.

The alarm was raised by the video surveillance centre. The firefighters were able to extinguish the fire by flooding the big-bag on fire and two adjacent bags. The accident site was then monitored for two hours. A specialised company was able partially pump 5 tonnes of the extinguishing water loaded with detergent fines (1.6 t), and store it in drums and containers for subsequent processing.

Self-combustion of the big-bags, having been left for several hours in the sun before being placed in the oxidizer storage area, may have been the origin of the fire. This self-combustion may have been caused by the composition of detergent containing sodium percarbonate (oxidiser) and a low-flash-point-hydrocarbon used as a fragrance.

The prolonged outdoor storage of the big-bags was related to an organisational failure. The oxidizer storage area was full when the big-bags with waste left the pelletizing plant. The big-bags were being kept outside until space was available.

The operator proposed corrective actions:

  • optimisation of the flow of raw materials to avoid the oxidizer storage zone becoming full;
  • planning of the manufacture of products at risk for times when outdoor temperatures were not too high;
  • search for an alternative to the use of a low-flashpoint fragrance;
  • modification of the big-bag waste management procedure making it mandatory to store waste in a sheltered area;
  • installation of a smoke detector in the oxidizer storage area;
  • redefinition of waste management roles (transfers performed by the production department and not by the logistics department);
  • raising staff awareness of the risks of losing production resources in the event of an accident;
  • improvement of the supervision of temporary workers;
  • reminder and review of fire procedures.