Probe into Factory Explosion

A full public inquiry is to be held into the Stockline factory explosion in Glasgow.

The inquiry, announced by Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain and Scotland's senior law officer Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini, is the first of its kind in mainland Britain.

Ms Angiolini said that as health and safety legislation is reserved for Westminster and the investigation of deaths in Scotland falls within her jurisdiction, only a joint inquiry can address all the issues.

Under the UK Inquiries Act 2005, the inquiry will be chaired by a senior or retired judge, sitting alone or with other members.

It cannot rule on civil or criminal liability, but this is not supposed to inhibit the findings.

ICL Plastics and ICL Tech were fined £400,000 at the High Court in Glasgow in August after admitting health and safety breaches over the May 2004 blast, in which nine people died and 33 were injured.

David Urpeth, Partner at Irwin Mitchell said "I am pleased to see that a public enquiry is to be held following this terrible but avoidable accident. Having dealt with many cases following explosions at work, I am well aware of the pain and suffering caused to those injured and to the families of those injured and killed in such circumstances."

Accidents at work lead to a significant number of fatalities and injuries in the UK, and latest HSE statistics show that 212 workers were killed at work in 2005/06, while there were over 146,000 injuries to employees caused at work.

Irwin Mitchell specialise in pursuing claims for those affected as a result of employers negligence and previously successfully represented workers' fight for compensation following injuries sustained in an explosion at Conoco oil plant in Immingham, in 2001.

If you have a similar case, fill in our online claims form for free advice.