SSAB has once again paused work at the construction site for its new steel mill in Luleå after personal gas detectors registered low levels of hydrogen cyanide. The detected levels have not exceeded applicable occupational exposure limits and are not considered to pose any risk to personnel on site. No work will resume until the situation has been investigated and deemed safe.
"The safety of our employees and contractors is our highest priority. The personal gas detectors have registered low levels of hydrogen cyanide. The readings are below occupational exposure limits, and no one working on site has become ill. We will now further expand our measurement program," says Carl Orrling, Chief Technical Officer and Head of Transformation Office at SSAB.
Work was first paused on April 3 after several people experienced symptoms of illness. The site was gradually reopened from May 27 following a root cause analysis that concluded the symptoms were caused by dust in combination with respiratory viruses and weather conditions. The analysis was based on an extensive program of soil samples, soil gas samples and gas measurements, none of which identified any measured gases that could be linked to the symptoms.
SSAB will now, together with external experts, assess how the existing measurement program can be expanded - including measurements under production-like conditions with the required personal protective equipment - and carry out additional analyses to investigate this new information. The pause applies to the areas where gas detector readings have been registered, as well as adjacent areas where groundworks are being carried out.
Further information will be provided when additional measurement results and analyses are available. SSAB's current assessment is that the paused work will not have any material impact on the project's overall schedule or budget.
For more information, please contact:
Helena Norrman, EVP & Head of Group Communications, helena.norrman@ssab.com, phone: +46 730 66 53 46
Martin Gidlund, Communications Manager, martin.gidlund@ssab.com, phone: +46 704 50 59 03