Ammonia leak sparks factory evacuation

By Gwen Ridler

- Last updated on GMT

An ammonia leak forced the evacuation of part of Addo Food Groups Poole bakery
An ammonia leak forced the evacuation of part of Addo Food Groups Poole bakery

Related tags Sausage

Staff at part of Addo Food Group’s Poole factory were evacuated last week, after what the firm described as “a controlled ammonia leak” at the site.

The leak was a result of planned maintenance at Addo-owned The Poole Bakery in Sterte, Dorset on Wednesday (April 12), claimed the company.

A spokesman told FoodManufacture.co.uk that the emergency services were not called and no one was injured.

“Our Poole Bakery site was carrying out planned maintenance on an isolated section of its ammonia refrigeration plant which resulted in a small, controlled leak,” ​said the spokesman.

As a precaution, part of the site was temporarily evacuated. Staff were allowed back into the factory and the emergency services were not required to attend.”

‘Not required to attend’

Poole Bakery is home to the Walls brand and has three bakeries under one roof. The site mainly produces hot pies, pork pies, sausage rolls, slices and pasties. The site produces about 1.5M pies a week, according to Addo.

While no one was injured in this incident, ammonia can pose a deadly threat to workers.

An ammonia leak at a Carlsberg brewery in Northampton​ led to the death of one worker and left another in a serious but stable condition last year.

The factory was evacuated, with 11 workers from the site as well as 11 members of the emergency services taken to hospital. 

Related topics Bakery

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