An employee at an assisted living facility in Tennessee mixed chlorine bleach and ammonia together, which caused a hazardous gas to be created. A smoke detector was activated in a resident’s room where the cleaning product mix was being used.
When the firefighters arrived they observed a haze in the resident’s room and determined that it was a hazardous gas that activated the alarm. The two cleaning products were mixed together by an employee for use to clean up fecal matter.
The residents of the assisted living were immediately evacuated to a safe area of the building before the firefighters arrived. Two employees of the facility were sent to the hospital for evaluation, and both suffered no injuries. Firefighters cleared the fumes from building in approximately four hours, and residents were allowed to return to their rooms. The resident room where the smoke detector was activated and the adjacent room remained closed after the incident.
The Fire Battalion Chief of the responding team, Chief Joe Polenzani stated, “Mixing cleaning materials together is dangerous because it can create toxic fumes that can be hazardous to your health and even deadly. Always read the labels and spend time doing research before mixing cleaning products together.”
Compliance Perspective
Issue
All employees must be knowledgeable in regard to available chemicals and Safety Data Sheets (SDS) availability. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that for each chemical that is available in the workplace, an SDS is readily available to staff. Each available chemical must also be properly labeled. Employees must be taught to never mix chemicals, and a designated person within your facility should be available to employees if they have further questions.
Discussion Points
- Review your hazardous materials policy and procedures. Ensure that your policy addresses not mixing chemicals together and the availability of SDS. Update as needed.
- Train all employees on your hazardous materials policy and procedures. The trainings should include not mixing chemicals, and where SDS can be located within your facility. Document that the trainings occurred and file each signed document in employees’ individual education file.
- Periodically survey employees to ensure that they are aware of where SDS can be located within the facility.
