Celsa steelworks fatal blast: Company fined £1.8m
Two men died and a third was seriously injured in the explosion at the steelworks in Cardiff. …
Image copyright Family handouts A steel company has been fined £1.8m after an explosion which killed two men.
Celsa pleaded guilty to failing to make a risk assessment before the blast at its Cardiff plant.
Peter O’Brien, 51, from Llanishen, Cardiff and Mark Sim, 41, of Caldicot, Monmouthshire, both died in November 2015 following the incident.
The company apologised “for the shortcomings which contributed to the most tragic event in our history”.
At Cardiff Crown Court, a judge said the steelworks looked “like a bomb site” after the blast.
A safety mechanism failed to shut down a heater which got too hot and then exploded, the court heard.
Five other men were also injured in the blast at the plant in Splott, Cardiff in November, 2015. Worker Darren Wood was seriously injured.
Mr O’Brien’s heartbroken wife Marie said: “Nobody should ever go to work and not return.
“We will always love and miss Peter very much, but we need to find some closure now.”
And Mr Sim’s wife Samantha described her husband’s death as “the most traumatic experience I have ever dealt with”.
Celsa admitted failing to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Judge Neil Bidder said Spanish-owned firm Celsa had “failed to ensure” that the machinery was safe.
He added: “The company failed to make suitable and sufficient assessment of risks.
“A huge explosion occurred, bursting into pieces the large metal accumulator.
“Photographs of the scene shown to me are reminiscent of a bomb site.”
He said the risk of explosion “could and should have been recognised”.
A spokesperson for Celsa said: “Whilst nothing we can do will ever bring Mark and Peter back, our thoughts and deepest sympathies remain with those closest to them. The loss of two friends and colleagues will always be felt deeply by the whole Celsa family.
“We have left no stone unturned to ensure that nothing like this could ever happen again. All of us work incredibly hard every day to prioritise the safety of every single colleague.”
Celsa was ordered to pay the £1.8m within six months.
It was also ordered to pay £145,771.85 in costs and a £120 victim surcharge.
The prosecution was brought by the Heath and Safety Executive and a second charge of breaches of health and safety laws will lie on file.
Celsa UK employs more than 500 people and produces 1.2 million tonnes of steel each year from scrap.
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