FIRM ADMITS FAILINGS OVER BLAST DEATHS
ASTEEL firm has admitted risk assessment failings which led to the deaths of two workers in a factory explosion.
Celsa Manufacturing Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations after Peter O’Brien, 51, and Mark Sim, 41, were killed at the Celsa steelworks in Cardiff.
Cardiff Crown Court heard yesterday the two engineers died when an electrical fault led to oil being heated to dangerously high temperatures, eventually igniting in the basement of the factory and causing a “terrible explosion”.
Lawyers for the company admitted it had failed to comply with risk assessments for its employees who worked with the factory’s accumulator system which exploded on November 18 2015.
Prosecutor Simon Morgan, for the Health and Safety Executive, said a second alleged breach of health and safety regulations, relating to the machinery which caused the blast, would lie on file after accepting the company’s guilty plea on the day it was due to face a trial.
Judge Neil Bidder told the court an automatic shut-off failed to activate after hot oil used to lubricate steel
rollers surpassed normal temperatures, and workers did not manually shut down the system as an alarm system which would have notified them also failed.
The judge said: “The oil ignited and reached flash point and exploded, bursting the accumulator. It caused a terrible explosion.”
He added: “The company have now pleaded guilty to having failed to make suitable risk assessments. Had they made the assessments this accident would not have occurred. I therefore have to sentence on that basis.
“Two men were tragically killed. They went out to work one day and never came back, and another man was very seriously injured.”
Addressing the victims’ families in court, the judge said: “I would like to offer my very sincere condolences to the families of both men, and sympathies to the man who was injured. Nothing I can say will make things better, frankly, but I hope you feel you’ve been kept completely in the loop here.”
Judge Bidder said depending on what category the offence fitted in, the size of a fine would be between £130,000 and £1.5 million, with a sentencing hearing due to be heard on October 4.
Mr O’Brien, from Llanishen, Cardiff, and Mr Sim, from Caldicot, Gwent, died at the scene, while a third man, Darren Wood, was injured in the blast.
After the two men’s deaths their families released tributes to them.
A statement from Mr O’Brien’s widow, Marie, and their six children said: “Dad was a kind, gentle and funny man who loved the simple things in life - the outdoors, camping, burning things on the barbecue and of course spending time with his loving family.”
Mr Sim’s widow, Samantha, said in her tribute: “Mark was dedicated to his job and would always do it to the best of his ability and was always willing to help others.
“He was dedicated to his home life as much as work. He had two families, Celsa and home.”