Twenty-six call centre workers — two of whom are pregnant — were hospitalised after insecticide leaked into the air conditioning during ”routine fumigation work”, Discovery Health said on Thursday.
The incident occurred on Wednesday at 6pm at the company’s headquarters in Johannesburg.
A preliminary investigation indicated that a technical fault was the likely cause of the problem.
The ”common insecticide used in building fumigation” leaked into the area where 90 call centre night staff serving the United States and South African operations were working, a press release read.
The employees were then evacuated.
After an assessment by emergency medical personnel, the 26 were admitted to hospitals in the Sandton area as ”precautionary measure”.
Those who were not hospitalised were back at work by 11pm after the gas was dissipated and the building declared safe by emergency personnel.
”Those taken to hospital received the best medical care possible. We had senior Discovery people on the scene and at the hospitals to keep abreast of the situation,” said chief operating officer Adrian Gore.
Discovery operates in the life insurance market and in the health cover markets in South Africa, the US and the United Kingdom. — Sapa