Gas explosion: Footage shows blast that seriously injured two workers as company fined over £500,000

This was the moment when a gas tank exploded, and sent two workers flying through the air (click to play video above). Tomasz Patek and Robert Tyrko were replacing pipework on a large metal tank when sparks from the grinder they were using ignited a huge explosion - which is seen in the dramatic CCTV footage above.

The huge tank is later seen impacting the earth again - nearly ten seconds after it was launched. An environmental waste company has been fined more than £530,000, after the two workers were left with life-changing injuries.

Mr Tyrko had to have his leg amputated due to the incident, whilst Mr Patek was left hospitalised for two months after suffering serious injuries to his back, head and torso.

Experts commented that it was 'remarkable' that neither of them had died in the powerful explosion.

A joint investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency found waste management company Bio Dynamic (UK) Limited failed to ensure the health and safety of its employees.

After admitting to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work and Environmental Protection acts the company was fined over £300,000 and ordered to pay court costs of nearly £230,000 at a sentencing hearing at Nottingham Crown Court.

Grinder sparks ignited flammable gasses

The court heard that in September 2017, Mr Tyrko and Mr Patek were using a grinder to cut and replace pipework at the top of an 11-metre-high metal tank containing waste slurry. Neither was using a harness and sparks from the grinder ignited flammable gasses, triggering an explosion.

Mr Patek was flung from the mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) and into the air before landing on the ground in the slurry around the tank. He suffered serious injuries to his back, head and torso and was hospitalised for two months.

The court heard his injuries were so severe that he was not able to work for more than two years.

Leg amputated

It was also heard Mr Patek now suffers from pre and post-traumatic amnesia and has no specific recollection of the events. Mr Tyrko, meanwhile, was thrown into the air and landed back in the basket of the MEWP. His leg had to be amputated following the incident and he remains wheelchair-bound as treatment to receive a prosthesis continues.

Fractured skull

The father also sustained a fractured skull and has a piece of metal lodged in his elbow, which continues to affect his daily life.

In an emotional statement, Mr Tyrko said his injuries caused him to suffer nightmares, and mean he cannot help out at home as he used to.

“This whole situation is having a huge impact on my relationship," he explained. "I can’t help my wife in anything like I used to be able to. Magda is both wife and husband because all my responsibilities fell on her; along with the kids. Also my personality is explosive. I lose my patience very quickly.

"I attended appointments with a psychologist because I had nightmares that I was still having this accident."

In his statement, Mr Patek revealed the psychological scars he still suffered from the incident. “After the accident, I was unable to recover emotionally," he said. “I did not realise what had happened and was in deep shock. I could not cope with the pain. I could not accept an accident had happened to me.”

An investigation concluded that Bio Dynamic - who produce electricity from food waste by anaerobic digestion - were found to have kept and treated waste in a manner likely to cause pollution to the environment.

It concluded that the explosion had been caused by multiple failures in the company’s management system and was exacerbated by multiple breaches of their environmental permit.

Bio Dynamic admitted to breaching sections of the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Environmental Protection Act.

The company was fined a total of £304,500 and was also ordered to pay court costs of £229,988.

HSE inspector Richenda Dixon said: “It’s remarkable that Robert and Tomasz weren’t killed.

“This incident resulted from fundamental and multiple failings by the company to properly manage its health and safety risks.

“These included failing to ensure that the design, installation and use of the tanks were safe; failing to carry out risk assessments; failing to put in place a safe system of work; and failing to train and supervise employees."

Senior Environmental Crime Officer Iain Regan added that Bio Dynamic had failed to take action that could have prevented the incident.

"This was a lengthy and technically complex investigation by the Environment Agency and the HSE during which we found that the company’s attitude towards environmental compliance was largely cosmetic," he said.

"Although the site had an environmental permit, the company was not complying with the conditions of the permit or with their own management system and procedures.

“The site had unauthorised gaseous emissions points and undertook modifications to their process which were not risk assessed or notified to the Environment Agency.

"The company did not recognise or understand the impact that these changes had on the safety of the plant and failed to take action, when warned, which could have prevented the incident.

"These factors, and a failure to implement permit to work procedures, including appropriate risk assessment, created all the necessary conditions on 20 September 2017 for the explosion which occurred.

“Sites which receive, treat or dispose of waste must be permitted to ensure that they minimise the risk to the environment or human health.

"Incidents such as the explosion at Bio Dynamic show why it is essential that such sites strictly comply with all the conditions of their environmental permit and take their environmental responsibilities seriously.

"The consequences of the company’s failure to comply with its environmental permit could have been fatal.

"As it is, two employees have been left with life-changing physical and mental injuries which continue to devastate their lives seven years on from this incident."