Gas firm had safety issues before fatal explosion

An energy company's safety procedures were not up to industry standards prior to a fatal gas explosion, a trial has heard.

Ten people died following the blast at the Haut du Mont flats in St Helier, Jersey, in the early hours of 10 December 2022.

Gas workers Neil Armstrong, 58, John Wright, 60 and Lee Ward, 59, deny 10 counts of gross negligence manslaughter. Island Energy, represented by chief executive Graeme Millar, has also pleaded not guilty in a combined health and safety case.

The trial at the Royal Court heard the company did not have systems in place to ensure employees were carrying out safe work.

The residents who died were Peter Bowler, 72, Billy Marsden, 62, Derek Ellis, 61, Sylvia Ellis, 73, Ken Ralph, 72, Jane Ralph, 71, Romeu De Almeida, 67, Louise De Almeida, 64, Raymond Brown, 71, and Kathy McGinness, 73.

The court heard it was agreed by all parties work to decommission the gas supply to Haut du Mont on 9 December was a routine operation.

However, prosecutor Advocate Simon Thomas said guidance set out by the Institute of Gas Engineers and Managers was not followed as it was not part of Island Energy's procedures.

The lack of procedures meant Armstrong was allowed to act as the planner of the work, the authorising engineer, the network controller and supervisor of the work itself, he said.

Armstrong had been able to "mark his own homework" and essential checks and balances "were absent", the court was told.

Thomas said the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law applied to Island Energy which dictated the firm "must take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure health and safety".

The firm also followed standards set out by the Institute of Gas Engineers and Managers, but its corporate subscription was cancelled in 2019 and it was not clear why, prosecutors said.

The company resubscribed after the explosion, Thomas told the trial.

He alleged Island Energy was routinely allowing its engineers to carry out operations "on a regular basis without ensuring that the appropriate planning or supervision was in place".

Prosecutors alleged the firm relied on informal supervision which allowed "sloppy practices" and the "cutting of corners".

Training had been proposed in the years leading up to December 2022 but it was not fulfilled due to "budgetary issues", Thomas said.

Island Energy had itself reported in March 2022 for two years it had seen a "decline in health and safety performance and culture" and reviews "needed to be taken seriously", prosecutors told the court.

The firm put a number of measures in place from January 2023 to improve its operations on health and safety - including revisions to procedures so engineers could not authorise routine procedures prepared by themselves.

Prosecutors said Island Energy also failed to follow industry standards in relation to responding to emergency situations.

When a smell of gas was reported on 9 December, duty engineer Leigh Hunt was asked to attend Haut du Mont on Pier Road, the court heard.

Prosecutors said Hunt told investigators he drove along Pier Road with his window down and could not smell gas but it "later transpired" he had actually driven along Commercial Buildings on the road below.

The trial previously heard one of the residents who died reported a "major smell of gas" in a 999 call hours before the explosion.

Prosecutors told the court the attending fire crew reported to the control room the area had been searched and there was no trace of gas on the monitors.

But the court heard the Drager Gas Detection Devices that were used needed to have certain accessories attached to them and on 9 December the fire service did not have these accessories.

It also heard when the devices were used that night they were set to detect methane when they should have been set to detect propane/LPG.

After the explosion the site was "described as being like a Bunsen burner", prosecutors said.

The trial continues.

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