Wessex Water has pleaded guilty to three offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 following a "catastrophic explosion" at its Avonmouth water recycling centre that killed four people in December 2020.
Luke Wheaton, 16, Ray White, 57, Brian Vickery, 63, and Mike James, 64, died in the blast at the site near Bristol on December 3 2020. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the prosecution after police said there was insufficient evidence for a manslaughter charge.
Failings over silo storage and improvement notice
At Bristol Magistrates' Court, District Judge Lynne Matthews heard that Wessex Water failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all employees, including Luke, Mr Vickery and Mr White, in relation to risks from its use of silos for storing treated sewage waste between January 1 2013 and December 4 2020.
The company also admitted failing to ensure that people not in its employment, including contractor Mr James, were not exposed to health and safety risks during the same period. A third charge relates to failing to comply with an improvement notice served in January 2021, which required the company to demonstrate by March 12 2021 that it had made "a suitable and sufficient assessment" of fire and explosion risks from dangerous substances on the Avonmouth site.
Judge commits case to crown court
Judge Matthews adjourned the case to Bristol Crown Court on January 8, saying: "Those guilty pleas have been entered and I commit this matter to the crown court at Bristol for sentence."
Mr James was working as a contractor at the site at the time, while Mr Vickery and Mr White were Wessex Water employees and Luke was an apprentice at the firm. Emergency services were called to reports of a large blast involving one of the chemical tanks at around 11.20am, with the explosion tearing through a silo holding treated biosolids.
HSE inspector: incident 'should never have occurred'
Speaking outside court, Simon Chilcott, an HSE inspector, said: "When people go to work, they expect to come home safely at the end of the day. Luke, Ray, Brian and Mike had no reason to suspect that December 3 2020 would be any different.
"But because of failings by Wessex Water, the unthinkable happened - a catastrophic explosion which claimed four lives and permanently altered many others. The incident at the Avonmouth Sewage Treatment Plant should never have occurred."
Mr Chilcott said an investigation by the HSE, supported by Avon and Somerset Police, identified failures which could "all too reasonably have been prevented". He added: "After a detailed investigation, our prosecutors concluded the company had failed to take the appropriate measures to prevent this major incident, which is why we decided to bring them to court so they could be held accountable."
In tributes released through police, Luke was described as "the most gorgeous, loving, happy, talented, perfect son". Mr White's family said he was "a wonderful son, brother and father to his two sons", while Mr Vickery's family paid tribute to his "cheeky and wicked sense of humour". Mr James's family described him as a "brother, husband, father and Grampy", adding that he would be missed.
Wessex Water will next appear before Bristol Crown Court on January 8.
