In Frederikshavn, the company M.A.R.S. has come into the media spotlight after a article series in Nordjyske about safety. Yesterday, DOI.dk was able to uncover that the subcontractor Nocmarine is illegally housing migrant workers in a rented DSB building, where housing is not permitted.
After accessing documents from the Danish Working Environment Authority, DOI.dk can report on three orders that confirm the safety problems at M.A.R.S. The cutting of logs in connection with the scrapping of drilling platforms and ships was the reason for the first immediate injunction from the supervisory authority in October 2020. Here, two employees were exposed to smoke, and masks were not at all sufficient protection. The Danish Working Environment Authority wrote this in its immediate order:
"The employees are exposed to the harmful and carcinogenic substances and materials in the smoke because the filters in the turbo unit do not effectively absorb the harmful and carcinogenic substances and materials in the smoke.
Exceedances of lead concentrations in the air
Despite the comments from the Danish Working Environment Authority in 2020, there were again problems with the cutting torches at the company in November 2023. Here, the Danish Working Environment Authority was able to determine that the lead concentration at two of the company's cutting torches had been exceeded after an external consultant had carried out measurements in September 2023. The limit value for the lead content in the air is 0.05 mg Pb/m³. However, the measurements showed that two cutting torches, so-called burners, exceeded the limit value.
Burner 2: 0.06 mg Pb/m³
Burner 5: 0.15 mg Pb/m³
The exceedances are therefore 0.01 mg Pb/m³ at "Burner 2", while it is a full 0.10 mg Pb/m³ at "Burner 5". Therefore, M.A.R.S. was ordered to ensure that the lead content in the air did not exceed the limit value of 0.05 mg Pb/m³. It is not clear from the access to the file whether measurements had been taken at several cutting torches.
During the same visit, the company was again ordered to have employees who had been exposed to lead content in the air above 75 micrograms Pb/m³ undergo a health examination. However, the access to the file shows that M.A.R.S. was unable to say during the Danish Working Environment Authority's visit which employees had worked at "Burner 5", and therefore had to undergo a health examination.
Expert: Work with the torches should take place in a closed system
On Philippe Grandjean is a professor of environmental medicine at SDU, and he knows a lot about what it can mean to be exposed to lead concentrations. Although the professor does not know the exact circumstances surrounding the lead concentrations at M.A.R.S., there are no harmless lead concentrations.
- Lead is one of the few substances for which we simply have not been able to set a safe limit value. Over time, we have discovered that lead is also toxic even at so-called "low" concentrations, explains Philippe Grandjean.
Immediately, two groups are particularly vulnerable, but adult men are not exempt at all.
- It is especially dangerous for pregnant women and children. But adult men are also vulnerable. This concerns, among other things, the ability to form new blood cells, harmful effects on fertility and on the liver and brain, the professor says, and offers some advice:
- So I would definitely recommend that work with the burners takes place in a closed system, so that no exposed to lead.
Whether the lead concentrations have an impact on the environment and people outside the company's area, such as a beach, is uncertain.
- Whether it then reaches the surroundings; must be investigated further, because if so, the pollution could reach the particularly vulnerable, including children, concludes the professor.
M.A.R.S. director: Safety is in order
M.A.R.S. director Kim Thygesen is upset by the recent media coverage, and it is not an image that he can recognize. The orders regarding lead concentrations in the air have been terminated.
- Everything is closed and approved by the Danish Labour Inspectorate. We have good cooperation with the Danish Labour Inspectorate, and we are getting better and better at safety. And the Danish Labour Inspectorate has been helpful, explains Kim Thygesen about a development that has been strong since the opening in 2019.
- We have reporting of high quality, and we have taken measures in the area around "Burner 5". But it also has a lot to do with the behavior of the individual employee.
Measurements are taken on each individual employee.
- There are measurements both in the mask and at the filter for each individual employee, and they have blood samples taken every six months. That is why we can see if there is an employee who is exhibiting unsafe behavior, explains the director.
It can simply be that a smoker takes off his mask to smoke, even though it is not allowed. Warnings are given, and a third warning means dismissal. But Kim Thygesen now sees a positive development from the beginning.
- Our people have become good at safety, and we work hard on safety every single day. But safety culture is a long way off if you don't work on it every single day, as we do, he explains.
The series of articles in Nordjyske about safety is sad of.
- Most of their examples are from people who were here in 2020, says Kim Thygesen and comes with an open invitation:
- Come and see how we do it, we would like to show you.
The safety development has gone through a development where employees had to learn how to report near misses and dangerous situations.
- In the beginning, the people were given Mars and ice, so we could get them to fill out their observation cards. Now it runs automatically, and we get about 50 reports a month completely by themselves. The employees can either do it anonymously or with their names, explains Kim Thygesen.
DOI.dk's article from yesterday about illegal occupancy in a DSB building by employees of the M.A.R.S subcontractor Nocmarine has also been taken care of about.
- We have ordered a full audit of the company, so it will be done by April. Everything from the pay slips will be checked, promises Kim Thygesen.
The ordered audit will not take place until April, because internal employees are doing it, and they do not have time before then.
Kim Thygesen has no comment on Professor Philippe Grandjean's advice that cutting and burning should take place in a closed system and advice about investigation.
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