In early November of last year, there was a chemical incident occurred in the production process lines in the two filtration buildings of an iron ore mining, once a new flotation reagent replaced the current reagent due to the consideration of consumption of the new reagent being stored for over 3 years in the chemical storage area.
Several adverse health effects (i.e. skin and eye irritation, breathing difficulties, chest tightness, coughing, sore throats, nausea, headache) were reported by the processing operators. Even though emergency responses were given to the process operators working in the two buildings, operators’ complaint was not controlled.
Occupational hygiene strategies for this incident were set up and implemented by following Recognition, Identification, Evaluation and Controls. Both location and personal measurements were undertaken along with a walk-through site observation through the two buildings to determine the causes of the incident and sources of the health effects. Based on the assessment results, appropriate recommendations were given to improve the working environment and prevent any potential adverse health effects.