From that bastion of quality journalism with absolutely no click bait articles or annoying adverts and irrelevant videos...

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/events-shook-north-wales-penrhyndeudraeth-14822775 

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My eyes twitch when I see daily post articles these days :lol:

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My eyes twitch when I see daily post articles these days :lol:

Be thankful its only your eyes that twitch.... 😮

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May have posted this before.....anyway....

Here's a link to the IChemE paper on the subject.

https://www.icheme.org/~/media/Documents/Subject%20Groups/Safety_Loss_Prevention/lpb_issue172p03.pdf 

Very interesting reading.

In my opinion the writer takes a slightly cold view of the events. Yes the Company was fined £130,000 but they are keen to point out that this was a reduced amount after the court took into account the employees negligence in not following procedures. Bear in mind that these were basically uneducated labourers who could barely read and write in English and that the shortcuts in procedure which led to the explosion had been going on for some time, years probably, so yes they contributed to their own demise but then you might also feel that the Company should have had more control over the operation. Certainly if the accident happened today the Company would be crucified for failing to ensure the safety of men who couldn't be trusted to either understand or follow basic instructions.

A friend of mine's father, a doctor, was also the medical officer at the plant at the time. He had the unenviable task of collecting and identifying various feet, fingers, eyeballs etc following the explosion so perhaps his opinions on the matter have clouded my opinion too....

Discuss.... ;)

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From that bastion of quality journalism with absolutely no click bait articles or annoying adverts and irrelevant videos...

So, the headline states 1998, while the article says 1988! Nothing like getting the story correct!

Interesting film from 1960 of the works and the processes therein. It includes the inclines, aerial ropeway and a glimpse of a tunnel mouth.

https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-cookes-explosives-limited-an-account-of-explosives-manufacture-in-penrhyndeudraeth 

Dave

Our overall family’s service contribution to Cooks/ICI added up to 130 years. 47 of them by my father who over his later time there was head supervisor on the ‘Miners’ branch of the works where they packaged the products in multiple sheds surrounded by sandbag walls and spaced apart. He retired around 1973. From then on and probably before, the works increasingly became the poorer relation of its bigger version at Ardere,Scotland until it shut.

A few months before the incident the works had a shutdown and those interested or connected were shown around. Visiting each stage of the process and having it explained by the operators. I recall the two unfortunate men well. They were your typical plant operators. As most of us, capable when properly trained.

The HSE highlight the risks in employing clever persons for meanial or repetitive tasks. They have found such persons are more likly to find a shortcut to save them effort in undertaking such tasks with the limitation of not knowing the overall risks. The two who were killed were believed to have figured a couple of short cuts allowing them to spend some extra time at breaks by storing more trollies for transfer to the next stage. So the HSE concluded there must have been insufficient supervision. One of the 5 duties of the H&S Act.

The report Sinker has linked is well worth a read. As is the HSE Acop HSG 48. Google ‘HSG48 diagram’ for a quick summery. It’s surprising how many incidents fit the diagram.