CDC: Language Barrier Caused Chlorine Gas Leak

An employee at the Tyson Plant on Berry Street in Springdale passed out after being exposed to chlorine gas at the plant on June 27, 2011. She was given oxygen by other employees from the plant.
An employee at the Tyson Plant on Berry Street in Springdale passed out after being exposed to chlorine gas at the plant on June 27, 2011. She was given oxygen by other employees from the plant.

A chlorine gas leak that sickened nearly 200 people at a Tyson Foods plant in Springdale last year occurred because a worker who couldn’t read the English-language label on a barrel of chemicals inadvertently poured bleach into it, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report released Thursday.

Tyson Foods disputed the report, saying federal investigators misidentified the worker who caused the accident. Company spokesman Gary Mickelson told The Associated Press the worker who mixed the chemicals speaks English as his primary language and was able to read the label, but didn’t.

In its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the centers recommends industries adopt safety training tailored to its employees’ language skills. The agency found a Spanish-speaking worker poured sodium hypochlorite, which is bleach, into a 55-gallon drum. The drum had been left in the wrong place and contained a residual solution of an acidic antimicrobial agent, creating chlorine gas, the report found.

The incident occurred at the Springdale Berry Street poultry plant June 27, 2011.

“The worker who mixed the sodium hypochlorite with the leftover acidic solution told investigators he knew such a mixture was dangerous but did not recognize the drum and could not read the label to ascertain its contents,” the report stated.

Workers scurried from the poultry plant after being exposed to the poisonous gas, which can cause a range of respiratory problems.

The plant employs 1,200 and there were 600 working the first shift when the leak occurred. The centers said investigators from its National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health interviewed 545. Of those, 195 said they sought medical help, and 152 of those were treated at a hospital. At least five were admitted to intensive care.

Most workers seeking medical care following the incident were given oxygen to open up their airways and water to wash out their eyes. Three workers developed irritant-induced asthma, according to the agency.

“This chlorine release and its resultant health effects were preventable,” the report stated. It noted an earlier study that said Hispanics are killed on the job at a higher rate than other workers and training programs should ensure employees understand hazards.

“All communication, training and signage in the workplace should be easy-to-read and provided in languages understood by workers.”

Tyson Foods said the report was based on a false premise — that a Hispanic worker who couldn’t read English caused the accident — but that corrective measures were already in place.

“Since mid-2011, we’ve put additional controls in place to limit access to chemicals in the plant, and we’ve continued to emphasize training for those authorized to handle such chemicals,” Mickelson said in a statement.

Christina Spring, national institute spokeswoman, said the agency stood by the report.

Acidic solutions of antimicrobial agents are used throughout the food industry to prevent or retard spoilage. According to the centers report, Tyson Foods normally stores the acidic solution that reacted with the bleach in larger containers at its Springdale plant, but a sample drum had been inadvertently left in the area where the bleach was kept.

The agency noted while more than two-thirds of the plant’s workers spoke Spanish as their primary language and 12 percent primarily spoke Marshallese, material safety data sheets are written in English at a college reading level.

“To help overcome language and literacy obstacles, employers should actively engage workers in hands-on training,” the centers stated, citing a 1992 study that explored safety education for workers with limited English skills. It also supports the use of symbols and simple text to highlight chemical hazards.

Mickelson said the company paid a $2,500 fine to settle a citation filed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, retrained workers and re-evaluated the plant’s emergency response plan.

NWA Media reporter Christie Swanson contributed to this report.

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