In a factory manufacturing plastic packaging, two employees began to feel unwell at around 6:00 a.m. One of them had lost consciousness after products had spilt in a printing and cutting room. On their arrival, the fire brigade quickly transported the two employees to hospital, and they were later released in the afternoon. At around 4:45 p.m., the emergency services, assisted by the chemical risk unit, found several open 1-litre containers of propyl acetate on the site. They also uncovered non-hermetic containers containing a variety of filthy rags and absorbents, which also caused a reaction within their equipment. High concentrations of ethanol were detected in the workshop’s atmosphere.

An investigation conducted by the operator found that before the end of their shift at around 5:00 a.m., the night crew had cleaned the floors around the machines in the workshop with solvents to remove ink from the floors. One of the solvents used was 95% ethanol, along with propyl acetate. This type of workstation cleaning operation is not unusual but rarely involves all the workstations, as was observed in this case. The cleaning solvents used on the workshop’s floors were released into the atmosphere by evaporation and in concentrations that caused the employees to fall ill. The safety data sheet for propyl acetate indicates that when propyl acetate is used in cleaning products, care must be taken to ensure that the work is undertaken outside the worker’s breathing zone. In terms of ethanol, the safety data sheet also recommends that the inhalation of its vapours be avoided and that the premises be adequately ventilated.

The operator implemented the following measures:

• increase of the air exchange rate in the printing shop (from 30 to 50%) and increased filter replacement frequency;
• staff was reminded to follow the floor cleaning procedure (limited use of solvent);
• staff were also provided with half-masks equipped with filtre cartridges;
• modification of containers to limit solvent emissions;
• substitution of solvent-based floor cleaning products with non-solvent-based products;
• acquisition of an apparatus for measuring the amount of organic solvents in the atmosphere.