Monday, November 25 in the evening, a serious accident occurred at the NovAsco steelworks, on the Hagondange site, in Moselle. At the level of continuous casting, “the casting drawer opened, letting molten steel pour onto the ground,” reports the CGT in a press release. The three employees present in the area at the time of the accident received screenings. A temporary worker was injured in the ear, a second was hospitalized for burns and the third “is seriously burned, particularly on the legs and face (28% of the body at 3rd degree); he would have been placed in an artificial coma”, indicates the CGT.
Indefinite shutdown
Faced with the situation, the company called in psychologists and invited the steelworks employees to return home. “To date, management can affirm the following points: the steelworks will not restart this week or the next,” announces the CGT. An extraordinary CSE is organized on Thursday, November 28 to address in particular the question of reopening the factory. The accident was confirmed by Novasco in a press release: “An investigation is now underway and the steelworks will remain shut down for the duration of the analysis,” Novasco explains in a press release.
A planned expertise
“We are doing everything we can to determine the causes of this serious accident. The installation was secured by the teams and fire services. The latter, accompanied by an expert, were able to note the absence of any risk of contamination or pollution both for the employees present and for the surroundings of the factory”, specifies Novasco.
To date, continuous casting has been condemned. “It is still too early to determine precisely the precise circumstances of this accident. A company must come and carry out a machine assessment before anything changes,” continues the union. As a reminder, the manufacturer of special steels for the automotive, energy and mechanical sectors NovAsco was taken over in the summer of 2024 by the Greybull investment fund. Following this announcement, the company announced a reorganization of its sites. On its Hagondange site, the company has 396 employees.
18 accidents since January
In a press release dated November 19, 2024, the union recorded 17 work accidents occurring on the site, including 10 with lost time, since the start of the year. “However, you should know that what is characterized as an accident in our statistics is very often made up of minor facts,” says Yann Amodoro, CSE secretary of the company. In fact, any accident occurring during and in the workplace is presumed to be a “work accident”: this figure therefore includes dust in the eye, a hammer blow to the finger or sprained ankles on a staircase. In comparison, the unionist estimates that around twenty accidents will have occurred in 2023.
“We are indeed seeing a shift in work accidents,” continues Yann Amodoro. However, “these events are in no way comparable to the serious accident which occurred on Monday”, relates the CSE secretary.
Security measures
Before the accident on Monday, November 25, management had already announced the establishment of a safety forum. “An action plan will be presented to staff representatives in January, detailing the measures for 2025 to improve the situation,” detailed the CGT.
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