Contractor 'stood on bomb', inquest told

A contractor killed in an explosion at a water treatment works in the North was standing on top of a bomb, an inquest heard today.

Drew Stevenson, 51, was killed and a colleague seriously injured in the blast at the site near Derry in June 2005.

The welder was using an angle grinder on the roof of the waterworks when a spark ignited combustible gases and a storage tank shot through the roof and 200ft into the air.

Coroner John Leckey told the Derry jury: “They were working really on top of a bomb. The fact that one of the tanks was propelled vertically through the roof just shows what force was engendered by the explosion.

“I am sure that anyone who was there and knew about the presence of hydrogen, alarm bells you would have thought would have been sounding immediately.”

His colleague Peter Thompson, who was also on the roof, claimed he had not been warned.

Mr Thompson, who suffered a badly broken leg, said he knew of the dangers of the chemical but had no inkling of its use below his feet.

“I have a vague memory of being up in the air and I remember landing and that’s it.”

He fell through a hole into the metal container and landed up in a foot of bleach.

The facility at Carmoney Water Treatment Works, Eglinton, processed water from a nearby river.

Mr Stevenson, a father-of-six, from Main Street, Killen, West Tyrone, died from skull, spine and rib fractures as well as multiple internal injuries which a post mortem examination said would have caused instant death.

Liam Doherty, 43, a senior plant operator, said he had warned Mr Thompson, possibly within earshot of his colleague, of the risks posed by hydrogen.

He added that there were signs on the contractors’ probable route to the roof warning of the danger of an explosion and prohibiting smoking.

Water Service, which owns the plant, was censured last December after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found shortcomings in risk management procedures for the works.