Not all the incidents managed by Spill Center involve spills, as in the case of a manufacturer who asked us to handle an emergency product recall campaign. Plastic pails of contaminated commercial dishwashing detergent started expanding and bursting, releasing the highly alkaline liquid. In the first four days of the recall campaign, our call center dispatched cleanup contractors to 480 locations around the U.S. to contain the potentially hazardous material.
The manufacturer, a long-time Spill Center client, is a leading provider of cleaning and other products for the industrial, foodservice and healthcare markets. It was suspected that the detergent had been contaminated in the manufacturing process with hydrogen peroxide, which turns to water and oxygen when combined with an alkaline substance such as the detergent. The oxygen build-up was causing the containers to swell and burst.
The bursting pails posed a hazard, since the detergent can cause injury if it comes in contact with skin or gets in the eyes. The manufacturer, a long-time Spill Center client, wanted to bring the contaminated product back home, so Spill Center was contacted to coordinate the recall effort.
Over the four days that followed the decision to initiate a recall, Spill Center dispatched cleanup contractors to pack the containers in hazmat drums and palletize and placard the loads for transportation. The detergent had been distributed to customers throughout the country, including nursing homes, hospitals, restaurants, and college facilities.
Once the company instructed its customers to contact Spill Center, our call center was answering about 60 calls an hour for the first six hours of the event. Some of the callers had contained the material and moved it out of the way. Others wouldn’t touch it and were keeping everyone away from it. But the one common message was: “We need help now. We want this stuff out of here!”
Because of the potential for the containers to explode, the company acted swiftly, responsibly and professionally to locate and recall the contaminated product to minimize any problems. The manufacturer did its due diligence, contacting several companies for advice on how to conduct the recall and how much to budget for it. As a result, they expected the effort to cost nearly $1.5 million. But since Spill Center had been called in early, we were able to reduce the actual costs to $879,000. We did that by anticipating the disposal, product handling, transportation and return process at the outset.
Every contractor was given a complete picture of what was expected. We communicated detailed information about the material and packaging to the contractors and issued handling instructions that stipulated the type of protective equipment that was required for safety. That kept them from bringing out the most expensive equipment, which it wasn’t needed.
Spill Center determined the quantity of product at each loss location, names of the personnel on the scene and what they needed. Our call center, which worked around the clock, also identified the closest available cleanup contractor qualified to do the job of segregating corrosive detergent, over-packing it, properly labeling it, securing it to pallets and placarding the pallets for transportation.
Since we maintain detailed information on contractor response jurisdictions, we were able to coordinate responses by geographic location, giving some contractors multiple assignments. That eliminated mobilization and demobilization charges for the manufacturer. Spill Center directed the contractors to retain common carriers to return the product once it had been secured for transportation rather than transporting it themselves. That resulted in a significant savings. Spill Center also managed the invoice submission process – organizing invoices by location, reviewing all costs, and placing the invoices in line for payment by the manufacturer.
We had never seen anything quite as intense as that product recall. It showed us that our computer system was up to the task. We built it anticipating we would experience a high volume of spills, but it had never been tested it at this level of activity before this recall. I’m happy to report that it performed beautifully.
