During forklift truck handling of a big bag containing glue residues, a truck ran over a stone which unbalanced the load. These glue residues came from the treatment of washing water for the gluing machine of a press at a wooden veneer and panel manufacturing plant. The big bag impacted a 1m³ tank placed nearby and was pierced to one-third of its height from the top down, allowing a few dozen litres of residues of glue mixed with water to be released to the floor, reaching a seepage pit. The hole in the big bag was immediately closed by adhesive fastening tape.

The substance spilled on the floor was water mixed with white glue used for bonding wooden veneer on panels coming from the press gluing machine. According to the safety data sheet for this glue, the product is not classified as dangerous for health or the environment under the European CLP Regulation. The substance spilled on the floor, undergoing flocculation, congealed, resulting in a small deposit of glue residues on the surface of the floor. These 2-3kg of glue residues were removed by a high-pressure device and collected in a big bag to be destroyed by a specialist firm as final wastes.

The cause of the fault was the obsolescence of the floor. The age of the plant, repeated use and the various works performed in the plant resulted in a mediocre condition of the floor covering.

The operator built a new platform for treatment of the gluing machine washing water. In particular, this facilitated the movements of forklift trucks, improved the washing water treatment process and enhanced the safety of this operation with the presence of a 2,000l concreted retention basin. The classified facilities inspectorate also requested cleaning or excavation of the floors contaminated by the accidental spillage, and cleaning of the seepage pit.