"metal shavings caught fire and spread potentially toxic smoke..."

The importance of good housekeeping n terms of safety can be seen on the various posts that have shown what can go wrong if waste material is allowed to accumulate. Here is a recent story emphasizing the need for good housekeeping.

Workers at a manufacturing company in the Western USA evacuated their shop around 10 a.m. one morning during the week of January 29, 2017 as metal shavings caught fire and spread potentially toxic spoke within the building.

Local firefighters called for assistance from a hazmat unit to help deal with the fire that couldn't be attacked with water. Firefighters say magnesium and aluminum shavings caught fire, but they're not exactly sure how yet. It didn't take crews very long to locate and extinguish the fire. However, the spent several hours ventilating the building before allowing workers to return.

All of the burned materials were dumped into a metal trash can before being moved outside. As of noon, the employees should start the cleanup from the fire and resume operations.

According to the company website, the shop turns out high-quality metals products.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog is glad that this small fire was able to be contained. Many times small fires can grow. For unknown reasons this company did not have the proper fire extinguishers in stock. We strongly recommend that all companies that process aluminium (and magnesium) have the proper fire extinguishers on hand. Imagine what would have occurred if the fire department did not come quickly enough. One only has to look at the past stories on the APSB and see how quickly a small fire can grow and eventually destroy a facility.

The Aluminium Times Magazine had an article regarding good housekeeping practices. Here it is:

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