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Corus admits guilt on fatal blast Corus admits guilt on fatal blast
(40 minutes later)
Corus has pleaded guilty to two counts of breaking health and safety laws after a blast at its Port Talbot plant which killed three men and injured 12. Corus has admitted failing to ensure its workers and contractors' safety after an investigation into a massive explosion at its Port Talbot works.
The steelworks explosion in 2001 destroyed blast furnace five, lifting it off its base and blasting out 200 tonnes of steel slag and hot gasses. Three workers died in the blast and 12 others were injured in November 2001.
Len Radford, from Maesteg, Andrew Hutin and Stephen Galsworthy, from Port Talbot, all died. The steel firm had previously admitted civil liability and could face massive fines when sentenced on Friday.
The prosecution followed a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation. The family of one of the men who died accused the company in court of paying for the replacement "shiny new blast furnace" with their blood.
After its plea at Swansea Crown Court, Corus UK Ltd could now face unlimited financial penalties - the highest precedent being Transco's £15m fine in 2005, for a gas leak that killed a family of four in South Lanarkshire. The explosion in 2001 destroyed blast furnace five, lifting it off its base and blasting out 200 tonnes of steel slag and hot gasses.
The prosecution for which Corus was to stand trial until it entered a guilty plea at the last minute followed a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation.
Stephen Galsworthy, Andrew Hutin, and Len Radford died in the explosionStephen Galsworthy, Andrew Hutin, and Len Radford died in the explosion
The company faced two charges in the prosecution by the HSE for breaches of health and safety law, following the conclusion of its investigation into the explosion at the furnace. Len Radford, 53, from Maesteg, Andrew Hutin, 20, and 25-year-old Stephen Galsworthy, from Port Talbot, all died.
The first criminal charge was that Corus did not ensure the safety of its employees. Prosecutor Anthony Donne QC outlined how expert advice, which could have averted the tragedy, had been ignored.
The second charge held it did not ensure contractors were not exposed to risks to their safety. He blamed the company for "long-standing faults in company procedures" and "a pattern of failure and management" to react to warnings of the dangers faced by employees.
Corus admitted civil liability for one of the worst accidents in the UK's steel industry for 26 years, around 12 months after the explosion. Negotiations about compensation are still on-going. Mr Donne told how Corus was "well aware" of the dangers as the company had been prosecuted over an incident at its Llanwern steelworks in 2000 when they had been an explosion after water mixed with molten metal.
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. The prosecutor also described how a special committee set up to monitor the furnace, commissioned in 1959, had made a series of recommendations - none of which appeared to have been acted on.
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. Electrical transformer
He said blast furnace number five had suffered "many, many pump failures" before the explosion in 2001.
The prosecutor also described the chain of events which led to the fatal blast when an electrical transformer needed repairs.
Mr Donne said the operation required careful monitoring to ensure the voltage remained constant but the team working in the furnace number five the day before the accident was never told about the work.
When the transformer switch was made voltage dropped dramatically, causing both it and an auxiliary pump which came on, to trip.
This meant water to cool the system did not circulate and up to 50 tonnes leaked into the furnace.
Mike Hutin said 'time has not been a healer'Mike Hutin said 'time has not been a healer'
The blast furnace gas subsequently ignited and flames enveloped the furnace, the report said. Workers were sent to deal with the problem believed the leak had been repaired and the source of the problem deal with.
In August 2005, an inquest into the three deaths ended in verdicts of accidental death. But the large amount of water was still in the furnance and it reacted with molten metal to cause an explosion when the metal core was reheated the next day.
The jury had been told during the four-week inquest that urgent repairs had begun on the furnace the day before the blast on 8 November, 2001. Mr Donne also read out a message of tribute from the family of "gentle giant" Stephen Galsworthy.
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 message said it was essential that Corus and other companies should not be allowed to let dangerous work conditions go unchecked.
The inquest jury was told that the explosion happened about one hour and 15 minutes after that meeting. Unlimited financial penalties
Mr Hutin's father, Mike Hutin, said he had waited too long to find out why his son died. "They must be made to value the lives of their workers and not a shiny new £75m blast furnace paid for with their blood".
He said: "Time has not made it easier. Forget the old saying that time helps and time heals - it doesn't do that and to be honest it's just been a real struggle." Corus UK Ltd could now face unlimited financial penalties - the highest precedent being Transco's £15m fine in 2005, for a gas leak that killed a family of four in South Lanarkshire.
Corus admitted civil liability for the accident around 12 months after the explosion. Negotiations about compensation are still on-going.
Outside court Andrew Hutin's father Mike said: "I expect the individuals who made decisions that day - which in my mind were the wrong decisions but obviously I can't comment on each and every decision - to be punished in some way."
Councillor Anthony Taylor from Neath Port Talbot council said: "I think Corus admitting that there was liability on their behalf has meant the community can look with some certainty to the future and it comes as some closure to what's gone on.
"It's been a sad five years. I know this won't satisfy everybody within the community but at least there's a final closure to it all."