Whoever smelled it, dealt it
A giant white skyscraper on the southern side of the city of Groningen, home to both DUO (the organisation responsible for education/study financing), and the tax authorities, was closed on Wednesday morning after a ‘strange smell’ caused workers to feel unwell.
A number of employees were temporarily moved to another workplace, so that the fire brigade could take measurements. On Tuesday, eight workers in the building became unwell after a strange pong filled the building.
The fire brigade was called, and couldn’t find anything strange at the time, however on Wednesday the stench was smelled elsewhere in the building. According to a DUO spokeswoman, no one was taken unwell this time, reports the GIC.
Employees of the building and the fire brigade have thoroughly reviewed the ventilation system in the building, and nothing out of the ordinary has been found. “Yesterday we sent air samples to the RIVM, but nothing strange was found in their initial findings,” said a spokesperson.
According to the spokeswoman, it is not entirely clear whether it is the same fragrance on Wednesday as the one on Tuesday. “According to the affected employees, it is also difficult to describe. It is also a huge building with many installations and complicated air flows. Perhaps a dead animal or something else is the source of the smell,” said the spokeswoman.
On Tuesday, all 350 employees had to leave the building. Several hundred employees would have been present in the building on Wednesday, with the majority working on behalf of DUO, but all but 40 employees are now working from home. Most of the people present in the building work for the Tax Authorities, mainly for the Tax helpline.
It is not yet clear what was on the menu in the staff canteen on both days.
Image via Wikimedia user Richard Broekhuijzen. License here.
