"Two workers were rescued by city firefighters after a fire...."

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted on the importance of emergency evacuations. The planning, training, and drills for emergency evacuations needs to be scheduled periodically throughout the year. Here is a recent incident that reinforces the need for continued emergency evacuation training:

Two workers were rescued by city firefighters after a fire one evening during the week of May 17, 2015 at a die casting company located in Canada that caused an estimated €9,000 to €13,000 in damage.

One of the workers was treated at the scene by paramedics, according to local fire department Chief.

Firefighters were called to the plant at 20:00 p.m. after the fire activated an automatic alarm and firefighters arrived to find all but the two workers had evacuated.

The fire happened in a molten metal processing pot after fluid from a burst hydraulic hose came in contact with hot metal, igniting the hydraulic fluid and some machine components, according to the fire department.

Workers used portable extinguishers to control the blaze while city firefighters used compressed gas extinguishers to put out the blaze and then ventilated the smoke.

The fire department estimates the blaze caused €9,000 to €13,000 in damage to equipment and from the cleanup and lost production.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog prays for the full recovery of the injured workers physical and mental injuries from this incident. We acknowledge the horror that these workers mush have suffered through until they were rescued by the local fire department. It is unknown what period of time elapsed from the fire igniting and the call to the emergency management department. The APSB recommends that “when to call for help” should be addressed in the emergency management plan prior to an incident arising.

The use of flammable hydraulic liquids in our facility is commonplace.  The APSB has posted similar incidents. Almost all aluminium companies that experience a hydraulic liquid fire switch to non-flammable products afterwards.

It is unknown why the two workers needed to be rescued. Nevertheless, it is our hope that the die casting company will review what occurred and how to prevent workers from being trapped in the facility. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has a great document on workplace evacuations. It can be found here.

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