Fatality as blast rocks Teva manufacturing plant
pharmafile | May 31, 2013 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â TevaÂ
One man died and more than 30 other people were injured after an explosion hit a manufacturing facility operated by Teva in Ramat Hovav, Israel.
The explosion at the Teva Tech plant – which was set up in 1995 and manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for Teva and other third-party customers – was followed by a fire that caused burns and smoke inhalation injuries.
At present the cause of the explosion has not been determined but local press reports have suggested that it could have resulted from a malfunction in a reactor at the plant.
Aside from making APIs – including the active in Teva’s blockbuster multiple sclerosis product Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) – the Teva Tech plant is also involved in the recovery of solvents for re-use by the company’s manufacturing facilities.
The company said in a statement that it had sent its condolences to the family of the worker who died and was making sure that the needs of all staff affected by the incident were being met.
Fatal accidents of this type are thankfully uncommon in pharma facilities but, when they do occur, are often caused by ignition of combustible dust generated during the processing of raw materials.
Typically companies take a number of measures to prevent this happening, such as segregating dust-producing operations, making sure walls, ceilings and partitions are sealed and regularly cleaned to prevent dust build-up, and using only electrical equipment suitable for potentially explosive atmospheres.
The latest accident comes just over a year after an explosion and fire at a plant operated by Teva’s Pliva subsidiary in Croatia killed one worker and injured eight others.
The Pliva explosion was attributed to an electrical short circuit which caused a spark and ignited material in a processing area involved in the production of a paracetamol-based tablet product.
Phil Taylor
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