SSAB has once again paused work at the construction site for the new steel mill in Luleå after personal gas detectors registered low levels of hydrogen cyanide (HCN). The detected levels have not exceeded applicable exposure limits and are not considered to pose any risk to personnel on site. No work will resume until the situation has been investigated and determined to be safe.
The safety of employees and contractors is our highest priority. Together with external experts, SSAB will now assess how the existing monitoring program can be expanded – including measurements under production-like conditions with the required personal protective equipment – and carry out additional analyses to investigate this new information. The pause applies to the areas where gas detector readings have been recorded, as well as adjacent areas where groundworks are being carried out.
Further information will be provided when additional measurement results and analyses are available. SSAB's current assessment is that the paused work will not have any material impact on the project's overall schedule or budget.