On Wednesday, June 26, the GHM Foundry in Wassy experienced a fire in an electrical cabinet. The fire was quickly brought under control by the factory’s personnel, thanks to safety systems that go beyond simple safety standards.
“We want to have a state-of-the-art, well-maintained production tool, and for our employees to work in the best possible conditions.” If there is one subject that Christophe Iochum does not joke about, it is the safety of his 200 employees. “And we put money on the table for that!”, emphasizes the director of the GHM Foundry in Wassy. An investment that made it possible to manage the fire on Wednesday, June 26 as best as possible.
“When the firefighters arrived, the fire had been under control for a while.”
“Employees saw smoke coming out of the electrical room. They immediately alerted maintenance, who were able to attack the fire with fire extinguishers,” says Christophe Iochum. “They emptied seven of them on the cabinet that houses the capacitor banks. At the same time, we called the emergency services and evacuated the personnel to the assembly point.” A well-tested procedure – a drill had taken place the previous week – which enabled the fire to be quickly extinguished.
Secure restart of activity
“When the firefighters arrived, the fire had been under control for a while,” insists Laurent Collard, head of hygiene, safety, environment and security at Fonderie GHM. “We provided the plans of the factory with the risk areas, the storage locations for hazardous products… But they just had to check that there was no risk of restarting and to ventilate the workshops to evacuate the smoke.” Firefighters who were also asked by the company’s managers to secure the restart of activity, about an hour later.
More than 340 fire extinguishers at the GHM Foundry
If the worst was avoided on Wednesday, June 26, it is thanks to everything the company has put in place in recent years. “A little over two years ago, we were one of the last foundries to manage our high-voltage stations ourselves,” says Christophe Iochum happily. “But the manager retired. So we decided to outsource. We still have the skills in-house, but we no longer have enough people. So we signed a maintenance contract with Actémium, in Saint-Dizier.” Cost of the operation: more than 150,000 euros per year.
At the same time, Fonderie GHM “is putting everything in place to deal with the slightest incident, because the first few minutes are often crucial,” adds Laurent Collard. “We train our employees in the use of fire extinguishers. We have more than 340 across the entire site. This is well above the mandatory standards.”
Automatic detection and extinguishing systems
And Christophe Iochum adds: “We are also starting to equip the company with automatic detection and extinguishing systems. They are not mandatory, but in all the investments we make today, we are required to do so.” Some time ago, the storage of hazardous products was also reviewed. From now on, the cans are stored on shelves equipped with recovery bins, which prevent spills in the event of a leak.
A week after the incident, Fonderie GHM is waiting to find out the reasons for the disaster. “Today, we are waiting for Actémium to explain the causes of the fire and how we can control these cabinets to prevent it from happening again,” concludes Christophe Iochum. The latest checks carried out in March and April revealed nothing abnormal. Only one thing is certain: this was not a malicious act, as access to the electrical room is secure and reserved for authorized personnel.
P.-J. P.
