Briar Chemicals explosion: Worker's death an accident, inquest finds
The death of a man in a chemical factory explosion was an accident, an inquest jury has decided.
Robert Cranston, 46, was using a grinder, creating sparks and causing an explosion at Briar Chemicals in Norwich in July 2018. He died in hospital the same day. His family had wanted a verdict of unlawful killing, but Norfolk area coroner Yvonne Blake directed the jury they could only decide if it was a case of accidental death. Contractor Mr Cranston, of Norwich, was carrying out maintenance on a large storage tank at the Sweet Briar Road plant. Unbeknown to him, or his 22-year-old son Owen, working nearby, the tank contained the residue of highly flammable solvent toluene, a component of TNT. Sparks from the grinder ignited the toluene vapour, causing the fatal explosion. Mr Cranston suffered extensive blast injuries and burns and died in hospital. During the hearing, Briar Chemicals was criticised for having no proper system of measuring toluene when it was pumped from one part of the factory to another. Probes to monitor for hazardous gases were also proved to be ineffective at detecting toluene. Gordon Wilcox, a supervisor at Briar Chemicals, told the inquest gas monitoring had concentrated on possible hazards from nearby drains, because he did not think flammable vapours would be inside the tank. "My thoughts were that the vessel had been completely washed out... so we weren't considering the inside of the vessel to be a hazard," said Mr Wilcox. A statement from the family is expected. Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk