Prosecution after Corus explosion

Corus is to face prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation into a fatal blast furnace explosion in 2001.

Three workers were killed and another nine were badly injured at the Port Talbot steelworks.

Len Radford, from Maesteg, and Andrew Hutin and Stephen Galsworthy, from Port Talbot, died after the explosion.

Corus faces two charges under safety legislation and will appear before Neath magistrates in April.

An inquest in Swansea last year ended in verdicts of accidental death.

Corus UK Ltd will face prosecution by the HSE for breaches of health and safety law, following the conclusion of its investigation into the explosion at the furnace.

The first criminal charge alleges the company did not ensure the safety of its employees and the second charge alleges it did not ensure contractors were not exposed to risks to their safety.

Corus admitted civil liability for one of the worst accident in the UK’s steel industry for 26 years, around 12 months after the explosion.

In 2003, the HSE published a report into the explosion which said its likely cause was water coming into contact with hot material in the furnace.

It found the explosion was so powerful, it had lifted the top half of the furnace up, which allowed about 200 tonnes of slag and molten metal and a large volume of hot blast gases to be ejected.

The blast furnace gas subsequently ignited and flames enveloped the furnace, the report said.

In August 2005, the jury on the four-week inquest returned verdicts of accidental death.

The inquest had been told that urgent repairs had begun on the furnace the day before the blast on 8 November, 2001.

After it became apparent water was getting into the furnace, a number of workers took part in a meeting to discuss what to do about the problem.

The inquest jury was told that the explosion happened about one hour and 15 minutes after that meeting.