Photos: supplied
ANMF (Vic Branch) is working with a member who, through the course of their employment, found themselves in a highly dangerous situation resulting in a liquid mercury spill from a bottle of the toxic chemical dating back before 1974!
The member, a nurse at a regional health service, was directed to conduct an audit of hazardous substances despite not having the relevant training, experience or supervision.
Unfortunately, this led to the member handling one unsecured pre-1974 mercury bottle, as well as a bottle of anaesthetic ether, and resulted in mercury vapour accidentally being released and spills occurring along several hospital hallways.
What is the issue with mercury?
Mercury can be fatal if inhaled and is highly harmful to human health if absorbed through the skin. The World Health Organization (WHO) regards it as one of the top ten chemicals of major public health concern. Although largely discontinued in medical use, as per the Minimata Convention, it remains in circulation in certain circumstances.
If not cleaned up properly, spills of even small amounts of mercury – such as from a broken thermometer – can contaminate indoor air and lead to serious health consequences. Since mercury vapour is odourless and colourless, people can breathe it in and not know it. For liquid metallic mercury, inhalation is the route of exposure that poses the greatest health risk.
According to the WHO, ‘small spills of elemental mercury on a smooth, non-porous surface can be safely and easily cleaned up with proper techniques. However, beads of mercury can settle into cracks or cling to porous materials like carpet, fabric or wood, making the mercury extremely difficult to remove. Spilled mercury can also be tracked on footwear. Inadequate cleaning and disposal may expose already compromised patients and healthcare staff to potentially dangerous exposures.’
How did the health service respond?
The nature of the spill – which resulted in approximately two teaspoons of exposed mercury – required the health service to evacuate the hospital and call in a Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) hazmat response. It took FRV nine hours to clear the area before they were able to declare it safe for the hospital to take over decontamination.
Our member was transported to acute care for medical evaluation, and their clothing was removed, tested positive for contamination and subsequently incinerated.
While there were ultimately no adverse events from the spill, the incident highlighted systemic gaps in the health service’s occupational health and safety (OHS) management, particularly around hazardous substance handling, training and incident response, particularly in the areas of:
- hazard identification and risk assessment
- training and competency verification
- hazardous substance handling and storage procedures
- emergency response and post-exposure protocols.
Regulatory oversight and WorkSafe response
WorkSafe Victoria was notified and subsequently conducted an inspection. But despite clear evidence of deficiencies in the health service’s training, supervision and safe-handling procedures, WorkSafe did not issue an improvement notice.
ANMF believes this outcome undermines confidence in the regulatory process as well as the hospital’s accountability mechanisms. We have requested a review of WorkSafe’s decision, with an emphasis on the missed opportunity to mandate systemic improvements to protect workers and the broader public.
