Mepa workers in health scare

Planning authority employees were medically screened yesterday after exposure to a gas at their offices suspected to be hydrogen sulphide, The Times has learnt.

Four workers went to Mater Dei Hospital while "at least" 30 employees visited health centres around the island to be seen by a doctor, according to a Mepa spokesman.

The Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin said some workers were "hospitalised" but both the spokesman and Mepa chairman Austin Walker denied it, saying four of the employees were referred to the hospital from the health centres but were released after further checks.

The health scare followed an evacuation on Monday of about 80 employees from Hexagon House in Marsa, which houses the authority's Environmental Protection Department, after a pungent odour could be smelt in the offices.

Hydrogen sulphide, a colourless, toxic and flammable gas, smells like rotten eggs.

According to the Union Professjonisti Awtorità tal-Ambjent u l-Ippjanar (UPAP), a "number of employees" felt unwell after being exposed to the gas. The union said they went to health centres on their own initiative and were certified to have a work-related injury due to "other type of poisoning and infections".

The planning authority spokesman could not confirm nor deny this and attempts to get further clarifications on what this meant from the union were unsuccessful.

The UĦM said the management did not follow health and safety procedures to send all employees for medical checks. But the Mepa spokesman denied this, adding that the house doctor was sent yesterday evening to all employees who had been seen at the health centres.

Still, attempts to pinpoint what caused the smell have not yet been successful and the authority spokesman said the workers would not return to the Marsa building until it was determined that the premises are safe.

He said some workers had felt dizzy following exposure to the gas.

Ray Busuttil, director general for public health regulation, said exposure to hydrogen sulphide could cause nausea, dizziness and in severe cases even delirium.

The foul smell of the gas has its advantage since it raises the alarm to its presence, said Sandro Sammut, from the Department for Environmental Health, which is also looking into the case.

Police have been asked to investigate the incident to determine whether any foul play could have been involved.

The Mepa spokesman said the odour could not be smelt outside the offices and experts have been brought in to verify what caused it.

On Monday, Mepa said the Drainage Department was called in to establish whether the smell was the result of a leakage from the drainage system of the offices but an inspection of the entire system found it to be in good working order.

The smell was not present yesterday morning, making it even more difficult to determine where it had been coming from.

Occupational Health and Safety Authority chief executive officer Mark Gauci said attempts were being made to determine the cause.

Meanwhile, three trade unions - the UĦM, the UPAP and the Mepa Technical and Clerical Workers' Union (UTAC) - have ordered the workers not to go back to the Marsa offices before these are certified as safe.

The UPAP said Monday's incident confirmed repeated complaints by workers of unacceptable pungent smells. "It is evident that despite a lot of reassurances by Mepa that the building is a safe working environment, the management's decision to evacuate the building confirms that the problem still exists. It is unfair that the management has only taken serious notice of this problem when high level officials from the government and unions were present on site," the union said.

Last September, Labour MP Leo Brincat raised the alarm that a number of Mepa workers had been transferred to Hexagon House, a place that had long been affected by an odour problem. In fact, a number of formal complaints about headaches and breathing problems caused by the smells had been lodged and measures to mitigate the problem had not been effective enough, he said.