General News
24 November, 2022
Sutton Tools chemical spill hospitalises workers, raises concerns about chemical use
A chemical spill at Maryborough’s Sutton Tools factory saw six men hospitalised on Wednesday, with staff raising concerns about working conditions at the local site. CFA, Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) and Ambulance Victoria crews were called to the...
A chemical spill at Maryborough’s Sutton Tools factory saw six men hospitalised on Wednesday, with staff raising concerns about working conditions at the local site.
CFA, Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) and Ambulance Victoria crews were called to the site after receiving reports of a chemical spill at the factory at around 5.40 pm on Wednesday afternoon.
Upon arrival, crews found a 200 metre trichlorethylene (an industrial solvent) spill inside the factory, with six staff members affected.
According to Ambulance Victoria, a man in his 40s was taken to Bendigo Health in a stable condition after he was assessed by paramedics for chemical exposure.
A further five men were taken to the Maryborough Hospital in a stable condition for observation after reporting exposure symptoms.
Maryborough Fire Brigade Third Lieutenant and incident controller Isla Douglas said some 14 staff members had been evacuated from the factory as a result of the spill.
“We were given reports of a chemical spill and when we arrived on scene, found about 200 metres of chemical spilled inside the factory and 14 people evacuated,” she said.
“Crews were wearing hazmat splash suits and breathing aparatus while they were undertaking clean up works of the chemical.
“We liaised for the next approximately nine hours with Fire Rescue Victoria, who were very supportive, in managing that chemical spill and clean up of the site which was protracted due to the logistical nature of cleaning up a spill and the nature of the chemical itself.”
Lt Douglas confirmed that at no stage was the community or surrounding properties at risk as a result of the spill, noting it was fortunate injuries were kept to a minimum.
“There was no threat to community, residents or the motel opposite the site and most of the risk was mitigated fairly early either by ourselves or FRV when they arrived,” she said.
“The workforce were very lucky to have only a few patients given the size of the spill and the chemical involved, they obviously had their processes in place to evacuate early which helped in that regard as well.
“I believe the cause of the spill is still being investigated, my understanding is there was a multi-factorial cause but that is still being formulated by site management.”
Long-term exposure to trichloroethylene can cause a number of different types of cancer, including kidney cancer and has been associated with an increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and liver cancer.
A worker of the local factory, who asked not to be named, said there have been concerns around trichlorethylene use at the local site for a number of years.
“This is a chemical that if you’re exposed to it you can get over it pretty quickly, but it can have long-term impacts,” they said.
“We were always told with that stuff that if you lift the lids of the degreaser and take the biggest breath you can, that’s enough to knock you out.
“It’s been used in the factory for at least 20 years here and we’ve been fighting with management to get this chemical gone, but we’re just not having a win.
“Every time you bring this up, management don’t want to hear about it but this spill might put the nail in the coffin for it, I hope it does and if it doesn’t, there’s going to be some big questions about why we’re still using it.”
The staff member said Wednesday’s spill was a minor incident that highlighted the dangers of using the chemical.
“We get more exposure to the chemical day-to-day than we did during that spill and the general rule is that if there’s anything more than a cup full of this stuff spilled, you hit the alarm,” they said.
“On Wednesday the staff member working at the degreasing unit was quite lightheaded and you could smell the chemicals really strongly.
“He was helped down from that work station and actually passed out. He has an existing medical condition so whether that caused it or it was the chemicals, I’m not sure.
“While the degreasing unit was being packed the hose wasn’t put away properly and that’s what’s caused the spill.”
The employee said it was their understanding that other companies operated by Sutton Tools no longer used trichlorethylene, opting to use potentially less harmful substances.
“I rang the company that produced the chemical five years ago and they said they produced a similar product that was used at our other factories,” he said.
“I asked at the time that if it was good enough for other factories, why wouldn’t it work here and there was a trial of it, but apparently it didn’t work.”
Sutton Tools managing director Peter Sutton said the local factory has appropriate safety measures to ensure the wellbeing of staff.
“We’re always trying to mitigate the use of any hazardous material but trichlorethylene is not a banned substance in Australia and we have all the proper procedures and systems in place to use this in a safe manner,” he said.
“We’ll be looking at alternatives in terms of mitigating the use of this chemical in the future but for now, we’re comfortable with the measures we have in place managing the use of that chemical.”
Mr Sutton said the incident was regrettable, noting all staff who were taken to hospital have recovered, with the exception of one who is undergoing continuing treatment for an unrelated health issue.
“While any incident of this nature is regrettable and ultimately preventable, I would like to thank all staff and emergency services who responded, enacting all necessary protocols to mitigate the escalation of the incident and ensure the wellbeing of all personnel,” he said.
“WorkSafe have attended the site and following that investigation made a couple of recommendations but cleared the factory to resume normal operations.
“Those recommendations really just related to a couple of mechanical improvements we could make to some of the equipment.”