Site demolition project after natural disaster

Ramboll was retained by Pfizer to repurpose a part of the pharmaceutical manufacturing operations and processes at the client's facility in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, which consisted of selectively and precisely dismantling and demolishing specific areas within the active facility. The work required strict pharmaceutical manufacturing and hygienic practices to allow overall site operations to continue uninterrupted. Through the first year and a half of the project, there were no reportable safety incidents. At the close of the project, combined hours for the facility repurposing demolition and EF-3 demolition resulted in a combined total of more than 300,000 safe work hours.

Patrick Watters, Pfizer’s Capital Program and Compliance Director, said: “Achieving 300,000 hours without a lost time is a massive accomplishment. But with Ramboll’s approach, it was never about reaching a big total. It was always about having every individual moment be safe.”

In July 2023, as our repurposing project was ongoing and Ramboll staff were onsite, an EF-3 tornado struck the Pfizer facility with next to no advance warning. Tornados rated as EF-3 have wind speeds up to 165 mph (266 kph). With very limited time to seek safety, Ramboll staff and contractors under the direction of Ramboll immediately evacuated to established storm shelters following the emergency guidance that had been previously provided to all workers. As staff onsite waited out the tornado, the power went out and phone service was lost, vehicles, including tractor trailers were thrown through the air and two large warehouse structures with nearly 40,000 pallets of product, including controlled pharmaceuticals and ingredients, were destroyed. Fortunately, through immediate implementation of safety plans there were no injuries to Ramboll staff, contractors or Pfizer employees on the site.

The facility was evacuated except for essential site personnel and first responders, but within 24 hours of the tornado, our team was back on site at the request of Pfizer corporate to discuss emergency response and demolition/cleanup actions.

Efforts began to immediately and safely assess and secure the storm damaged areas of the site, and the CEO of Pfizer paid an emergency visit to the facility. A significant issue the team had to address was the additional precautions required due to the potential for exposure to controlled pharmaceutical products and ingredients up to and including synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.

First response actions included quickly assembling Ramboll staff with expertise in demolition and H&S management, preparing an engineering survey and site-specific H&S plan, controlling and capping damaged utilities, and development of comprehensive method statements and job safety analyses that had to be strictly followed by Pfizer and all response contractors.

The damage to this major pharmaceutical manufacturing facility made both national and international news. Due to concerns of potential effects to the national pharmaceutical supply chain, the Commissioner of the USFDA toured the site to review and discuss response and recovery plans with Pfizer.

Safety was the overarching priority for all work conducted on the site. Team members had to sign in each morning and attend safety tailgate meetings before any work commenced. If a worker didn’t attend the morning safety meeting, they were not allowed to work onsite that day. By the end of 2023, over two months ahead of schedule, the damage to the site had been cleaned up. Two buildings were completed demolished, and the damaged product was safely packaged and shipped to facilities equipped to properly handle and dispose of it.