Tata Steel pays up £500k over horror death

Kevin Downey suffered a horrific death when he fell into a stream of super-heated molten liquid after being engulfed in steam and left disorientated during a night shift.

He had been working on a blast furnace at the plant, but as he tried to retrace his steps in blinding steam he wandered into a channel of molten slag heated to 1,500?C.

Colleagues alerted by his cries for help managed to get to him but the 49-year-old father of two had suffered 85 per cent burns and died later that day in April 2006.

The Port Talbot plant was being run at the time by Corus Steel UK, which was taken over by India-based Tata Steel in 2010.

This week there was a sentencing hearing at Swansea Crown Court after Tata Steel UK earlier admitted two breaches of health and safety legislation. The company was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £57,487.09.

The court heard the plant was also the scene of a devastating explosion in 2001 which killed three men - Len Radford, 53, Stephen Galsworthy, 25, and 20-year-old Andrew Hutin.

Twelve others were seriously injured, and at the time Mr Downey was described as a "hero" for his part in helping the injured.

Mr Downey, who had more than 30 years experience working on blast furnaces, was known for his high safety awareness.

His widow Tanya said: "We hope the hearing will act as a reminder to all employers that failure to observe basic health and safety issues can have catastrophic consequences."

Jon Ferriman, Tata Steel's director of Port Talbot Steelworks, said the company "deeply regrets" Mr Downey's death and added the firm was "constantly improving" procedures.

Hilda Palmer of Hazards Campaign network said: "It's time we called it like it is - these firms are serial killers and fining them is not doing the job.

"They must face prison sentences."

tonyp@peoples-press.com