“All emergency evacuation procedures were utilized and followed”

Machinery/Equipment breakdowns can occur with little warning. The APSB has posted numerous incidents on how a simple equipment breakdown can begin a domino effect of incidents that are progressively worse. 

Small incidents can eventually result in larger issues. Below is a video of the world's largest dominoes. This video is to illustrate that small incidents can grow very quickly.

Here is a recent story:

A piece of equipment at the Alcoa West Plant, in Massena, New York in the United States caught fire early Wednesday evening during the week of June 9th, 2013. Damage was limited and there were no injuries, according to Alcoa officials.

"Damage has been limited to that one piece of equipment. There is no structural damage, and they are checking now to see if there was an impact on any of the surrounding equipment." company spokesperson.

The fire was first reported between 6 and 6:10 PM. 

"There was a device in the electrode portion of the plant that is used to preheat a mixture that makes anodes for the smeltering process," the spokesperson said. "That piece of equipment ignited. We don't know why at this point."

Alcoa's Fire Response Team immediately began fighting the fire, and the Massena Volunteer Fire Department responded to assist, spokesperson said.

"They aided our Alcoa Response Team, and the blaze was quickly contained," said spokesperson .

The Massena Rescue Squad and ambulance were also on the scene as a precaution although their services were unnecessary. 

"All emergency evacuation procedures were utilized and followed." spokesperson said. "Everyone got out safely and securely.There were no injuries."

The fire caused no impact on operations. 

"We are smelting and casting, and we are going to be able to do that in the foreseeable future." spokesperson said.

Luck is hard to quantify. The APSB believes that the training and drills that this facility had undergone contributed in this incident not becoming worse then it was. Congratulations Alcoa on a great job! Please comment.