s.a. type sociedade an nima traded as euronext soni industry manufacturing founded 1959 headquarters maia portugal key people rui correia ceo paulo azevedo chairman products engineered wood revenue 1.321 billion 2012 1 operating income 25.9 million 2010 1 profit 74.4 million 2010 1 total assets 1.486 billion end 2010 1 total equity 298.8 million end 2010 1 number of employees 4 790 end 2010 1 parent sonae website www.sonaeindustria.com sonae ind stria is a manufacturer of engineered wood products founded and headquartered in maia portugal . present in five countries within three continents sonae ind stria has a wide range of products from simple board to complete construction systems a large range of wood based products and materials for furniture construction and decoration . contents 1 sonae ind stria worldwide 1.1 canada 1.2 france 1.3 germany 1.4 portugal 1.5 south africa 1.6 spain 1.7 united kingdom 1.8 former operations 2 health safety and environmental concerns 2.1 worker deaths 2.2 june 2011 fire 2.3 early day motion and closure 3 see also 4 references sonae ind stria worldwide edit founded and headquartered in maia portugal sonae ind stria is in five countries within three continents offering a wide range of products from simple board to complete construction systems a large range of wood based products and materials for furniture construction and decoration . canada edit sonae ind stria is present in canada by its subsidiary tafisa canada 2 in lac m gantic quebec since 1995 as an investment of tableros de fibras s.a. later acquired by the sonae ind stria group 3 since 2003 it became the first member of the composite panel association cpa and producer of particleboard and thermofused melamine panels whose environmental management system met the requirements of iso 14001 . 4 in 2012 tafisa canada invested 10 million cad on its facilities in order to recycle around 2 million trees per year 5 tafisa canada has received a third party certification for carb phase 2 compliance as well as the fsc leed epp scs iso 14001 and iso 9001 certifications . france edit sonae ind stria has had a presence france since 1998 when it acquired isoroy sas . nowadays it operates 4 plants auxerre le creusot and ussel corr ze by its subsidiary isoroy and linxe by its subsidiary darbo . germany edit with 6 plants around the country beeskow eiweiler horn kaisersesch meppen and nettgau it is present via its subsidiary glunz ag . glunz ag was founded in 1932 6 and in 1992 acquired isoroy sas which still operates in france being acquired by sonae ind stria group five years later . 7 portugal edit sonae ind stria headquarters is located in maia as well as the oldest active factory from the group . 8 they own as well other six plants around the country in alcanede castelo de paiva mangualde oliveira do hospital sines and vilela south africa edit south africa operations are based in two locations panbult and white river . during the latter part of 1998 sonae ind stria invested in a r350 million plant in panbult mpumalanga . two years later acquired sappi novobord including white river at their plant list . 9 spain edit sonae ind stria has presence in spain via its subsidiaries tafisa and tafibra with plants in betanzos linares pontecaldelas solsona and valladolid . 10 united kingdom edit spanboard products ltd at coleraine in northern ireland began production in 1959 and was acquired by sonae industria portugal s largest privately owned industrial group in 1989 . the company was extensively refurbished in the early 1990s when a new state of the art panel line for edged panels was installed . investment was also made in a computerized panel saw to provide a cut to size service for melamine faced panels and gives greater flexibility for customer service . the factory produces wood particle board to meet the criteria of both bs en 312 physical requirements for particleboard and also the site quality management system which operates to iso 9001 . former operations edit sonae ind stria had an operation in brazil which has been sold to celulosa arauco y constituci n in 2009 11 in a deal worth us 227m . between 2000 2012 sonae ind stria also operated a plant at knowsley merseyside in the united kingdom . the plant closed in 2012 following a series of fires and major accidents . health safety and environmental concerns edit according to figures released by the health and safety executive hse sonae ind stria s uk plant located at knowsley merseyside was the subject of 22 reports of major accidents between 2000 and 2010 . between 2003 and 2006 it was successfully prosecuted by the hse on four occasions and fined a total of 132 000 . on 1 june 2002 an explosion occurred at the plant and 20 000 liters of pollutant escaped into local waterways . the government s environment agency said on 3 june an agency officer visited the site and saw that the outfall from sonae s premises was gushing a milky white liquid . kirkby brook was discolored white for about two kilometers downstream and still affected for at least a further two kilometers . samples taken by the agency revealed that the water in the brook was polluted to almost three times the strength of raw sewage . an ecology survey taken two days later showed that for at least 200 meters downstream all life in the brook had been completely wiped out and even as far as two and a half kilometers away the brook was classified as grossly polluted . 12 in 2003 the environment agency prosecuted the firm over five pollution incidents affecting local waterways resulting in fines totaling 37 500 . the hse closed the plant on eight occasions between 2001 and 2003 . residents living near the plant have repeatedly called for its closure following a series of chemical leaks and fires . 13 14 between 2000 and 2007 knowsley council served many statutory notices on sonae including two prohibition notices 10 enforcement notices five variation notices and one notice requiring information with which sonae did not comply . 15 in december 2005 sonae pleaded guilty to three charges brought by knowsley council under the environmental protection act 1990 and was fined 13 000 . 15 in 2007 lawyers engaged by sonae wrote to the internet company hosting the website of local magazine nerve and threatened legal action for a damaging effect on reputation following the magazine s publication of an article critical of the company s safety record . the article was authored by steve tombs from john moores university and david whyte from liverpool university both health and safety academics . the magazine responded that sonae s reputation is damaged not by what is written about it but by its actions it is a serial offender . 16 in february 2007 the plant was forced to close for a month following a fire which started in an oil pump room . local mp george howarth raised the issue in parliament and said unless and until the hse can be satisfied that the plant can safely reopen and guarantee the health and safety of the workforce and residents i believe that the plant needs to remain closed . 17 worker deaths edit 2010 in december 2010 merseyside police and the hse began a joint investigation into the deaths of two workers who were killed after being dragged into machinery at the knowsley plant on 7 december . 18 19 rossendale and darwen mp jake berry said should the owners of the factory again be found to have fallen short of safety standards following a thorough and detailed investigation by the health and safety executive then i hope steps will be taken to prosecute them for corporate manslaughter . 13 merseyside police passed the results of their investigation on to the crown prosecution service who said they were awaiting the results of the hse investigation and the coroner s inquests into the deaths which was expected to be held in 2011 . 20 the inquest eventually convened at bootle town hall on 9 july 2013 before christopher sumner the coroner for sefton knowsley and st helens . 21 the inquest heard that the two men james bibby 25 and thomas elmer 27 were both sub contracted mechanical engineers and fitters and were carrying out maintenance work on a stationary conveyor belt 150 feet 46 m above ground level at the time of the incident . 22 john moutrie an investigator from hse said mr bibby and mr elmer were both found dead in the conveyor of silo no 4 . the two men were likely to have been working inside the conveyor or reaching into it to tighten the bolts at the bottom . at this point the conveyor started and there was no means of stopping it . they were drawn into the conveyor with tragic results . if safety procedures had been followed the incident could not have occurred . physical isolation of the conveyor belt had not been carried out . 22 paul atkinson the works manager of the plant admitted he had issued the men with a work permit which certified he had personally examined the conveyor belt and was satisfied all the necessary safety precautions were in place . he also admitted that he had not personally examined the conveyor belt to ensure it was isolated from the electrical supply and did not have access to the central control room panel to isolate the conveyor . 23 it was also disclosed that atkinson had not undertaken the required iosh managing safely course or any other general health and safety training . 24 donald macleod the plant s health and safety manager refused to answer questions at the inquest in case he incriminated himself . he declined to comment when asked by the coroner about the permit to work scheme refused to tell the court what his responsibilities as health and safety manager were and declined to answer when asked whether he had any knowledge of an alleged near miss on one of the conveyor belts three weeks prior to the fatal accident . 25 on 23 july 2013 the jury returned a narrative verdict saying the method of local isolation was communicated verbally but was not physically demonstrated to the deceased men . in addition local isolation of the conveyor was neither confirmed or checked throughout the day . while there was a risk assessment carried out on the specific work undertaken by the men it appears this was not communicated to the men directly . it is clear from the evidence that the sonae permit to work issuer supervisor had not been given or undertaken specific training or provided with sufficient supervision in the permit to work procedure prior to december 7 2010 . it is our view that the death of each man was the result of a failure to adopt appropriate procedures . the hse said it would consider the verdict before deciding whether to bring criminal charges . 26 in july 2015 sonae and the men s employer valma ltd admitted failing to ensure the safety of their employees . 27 they were fined 220 000 and 190 000 respectively . 28 2011 on 6 august 2011 a 62 year old employee was killed at the knowsley site . the worker was a contractor for the demolition team called in to remove the damage caused by the previous fire on 9 june 2011 29 june 2011 fire edit during the early evening of 9 june 2011 merseyside fire and rescue service sent twelve fire appliances to the plant after fire broke out in concrete bunkers containing 12 000 tonnes of woodchip . it took eight days to extinguish the fire . 30 31 32 mr. howarth said this latest incident at sonae serves as yet another example