"fire involving paper, metalworking fluid, and shavings"

 

On our plant tours throughout the world we tend to look for myriad of things that we have reported about on the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog. After a decade and posting over 800+ incidents we are confident in our knowledge of where and how incidents occur in aluminium plants. One area we always look into is scrap containers. These simple containers gather aluminium grindings, shaving, etc. Most commonly this material will be placed directly into a furnace if possible. On occasion we will see trash in these containers. That is dangerous. We always point these issues out to our hosts. Here is a recent incident highlighting this hazard:

A fire involving paper, metalworking fluid, and aluminum shavings Tuesday morning in a large dumpster inside the automotive transmission plant in the USA was contained by a working sprinkler system, the local Fire & Rescue Department reported. Fire crews arriving at the transmission plant after the 9:45 a.m. emergency call found fire in the bin with smoke showing and water flowing from three commercial overhead doors on the building’s east side, according to a department statement. Upon consultation with plant personnel, firefighters “quickly extinguished” the portion of the fire not doused by the sprinklers, and after checking the building for extension, they declared the fire under control at 10:08 a.m. No one was injured and the fire’s cause was undetermined. City and plant officials determined no hazardous materials leaked or were discharged from the dumpster.

We are thankful no one was injured in this fire. This incident could have been easily prevented if paper was not disposed of into the aluminium shavings’ container. We have reported on numerous incidents involving contaminated scrap containers.

So your orders are the next time you walk through your workplace. Stop and glance into a scrap container. If there are any foreign material your workplace has an issue that needs to be corrected.

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