Workplace Injury Specialist Calls For Answers Following Blast

A workplace injury expert at Irwin Mitchell has urged authorities to work quickly to provide answers over the explosion at Croydon police station which left four people injured.

The building in south London was evacuated this morning (March 20th) following the incident in the basement area, which reportedly left a contractor working on the site with serious injuries.

Another man hurt in the blast is thought to be in a stable condition, while another two suffered smoke inhalation.

Health and safety authorities are now expected to investigate the scene, while the police have been unable to confirm the building work which the contractor was involved in.

David Urpeth, national head of workplace injury at Irwin Mitchell, specialises in acting for people who have suffered serious injuries in such explosions. He represented 75 workers injured in the 2001 blast at the Killingholme refinery, which occurred when liquid petroleum gas caught fire.

Commenting on the aftermath of the Croydon explosion, he said: “While it remains very early days, it is clear that there are a number of questions which need to be answered as to what caused this devastating blast.

“It will now be the job of health and safety authorities to carefully assess all aspects of the incident to determine exactly what happened and how these four workers came to be injured.

“From our experience, incidents of this kind can have a significant physical and psychological impact on those involved, often leaving them with problems from which they never fully recover.

“It is absolutely vital that lessons can be learned which will go some way to hopefully improving safety and preventing further incidents like this from occurring.”