Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

At 6:32 p.m., a fire broke out on a non-operating machine at a metalworking company. The site’s firefighters put out the fire at 6:44 p.m. The municipal firefighters arrived afterwards. The employees were evacuated. The fire produced 2 m³ of waste consisting of rubble, sludge, absorbent materials, electrical waste and scrap metal. The production line was shut down for between five and six weeks to allow it to be repaired and refurbished.

According to the operator, the fire was caused by grease on the machine and its fume hood. In addition, during short shutdowns the necking die is maintained at temperature and the suction system is kept running. As the technician operating the machine was not trained in the use of fire-hose reels, he had to wait for the site’s firefighters to arrive.

After the fire, the operator decided to take the following actions:

  • add a sprinkler system inside the fume hood;
  • add an air supply cut-off in the event of an emergency stop;
  • change the routes of the cables and cable trays near the fume hood;
  • change the worker-break procedure: switch to manual mode so that the suction system can be shut off;
  • train forge operators in the use of fire-hose reels;
  • remind all workers about where fire alarm call points are located;
  • draw up a cleaning schedule for the fume hood;
  • look into a method for cleaning the flue and schedule this cleaning;
  • look into and fit gutters to collect and carry away grease.