Early morning fire in hot rolling mill....

The importance of have evacuation drills cannot be understated. After drills the safety department and employees who participated in the drill discuss ways of improving the drills. Many plants in our industry have rotating shifts for their plant workers. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog recommends that evacuation drills be carried out during each shift. Why? Well because evacuating in the daylight and at nighttime might result different issues. Such as the congregation/meeting point can easily be found in the daylight. Can they be located in the dark? Here is a recent story emphasizing the need for around the clock evacuation drills and training.

A fire at Novelis early Monday, March 16, 2015 was started in the hot rolling mill of the aluminum plant, officials said.

Novelis and Scriba firefighters were called to the plant around 12:20 a.m., 911 dispatchers said.

The fire was isolated to a piece of support equipment for the hot mill, Novelis spokesperson said in a statement. The fire was extinguished by firefighters, company spokesperson said.

All employees were accounted for and no one was injured, company spokesperson said. Internal investigators are still working to determine what caused the fire, company spokesman said.

The damage requires some repairs, but the company does not anticipate a major impact on production, company spokesman said.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog offers our congratulations to this Novelis facility for having an orderly evacuation with no injuries. We also would like to commend the Scriba Volunteer Fire Department for their assistance in putting this fire out. We hope that this equipment will be repaired and the production delays will be minimal.

Occupational Safety & Health Administration has some useful information regarding evacuation training and drills. It can be found here:

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