Ispat told of risk but ignored fire funds plea

THE life of a worker who died in a fire at the Irish Ispat steel plant last year could have been saved if bosses had paid the 15,000 needed to improve safety, a former official said last night.

Lab technician Thomas Mulcahy died when he was trapped in the blazing building at the plant in Cork on January 15 last year, despite the best efforts of fellow workers to save him.

The fire tender on site could not be started and the 53-year-old died in hospital after suffering smoke inhalation before the fire was brought under control. The former Irish Steel plant closed and went into liquidation five months later, with the loss of more than 400 jobs and leaving debts of more than 57m.

In a BBC documentary on the Indian owner of the steel works Lakshmi Mittal last night, former Irish Ispat safety manager Brian Purcell spoke of his concerns about the fire risk before the fatal incident. He said very little money was allocated to health and safety and he had sought to introduce a better fire safety training regime, which would have cost a little over 15,000.

“There was no response at first from Ispat management, and I was told to wait and put it in the 2000 budget, six months after the initial proposal. There was no response then in the budget, when it was approved by the Ispat management team,” Mr Purcell said.

He said management just told him the budget was set down by Ispat International bosses in London, and that they just had to do as best they could.

An inquest into Mr Mulcahy’s death heard that there were no fire alarms, smoke detectors or sprinklers in the building. There were no fire escapes in the administration block where he was working when the fire broke out, the hearing last September was also told.

“I have no doubt the emergency response team would have adequately dealt with the situation and they would have got Thomas Mulcahy out of that building,” said Mr Purcell.

In response, Mr Mittal said he believed all Ispat International plants were within industry standards.

“Our first objective is that all companies must be within the industry standards, in terms of safety and excellence. In the steel industry there could have been an accident, somebody might have died, but I am sure it’s not because of the company’s fault. I personally believe that safety rules may not have been followed,” said Mr Mittal.

Last night’s documentary was sparked by claims the billionaire used his wealth to gain favours in countries where he wanted to buy steelworks. It emerged last February that Mr Mittal made a 200,000 donation election donation to the British Labour Party the same month he decided to shut the Cork plant because it was losing money.

The following month, July 2001, Mr Blair wrote to the Romanian prime minister supporting Mr Mittal’s purchase of the country’s largest steel plant.