Flixborough 1974
People of a certain age will know the name of Flixborough for all the wrong reasons. Fifty years ago, at tea time on a Saturday in June, the Nypro chemical plant near the North Lincolnshire village suffered an explosion that killed 28 of the 72 people on site and seriously injured a further 36. Had it been a weekday, many more people would probably have died. The village had a population of about 400 people.
At the time, the plant made chemicals used in the manufacture of nylon. On 1 June, a major leak of cyclohexane from a temporary repair resulted in the rapid formation of a cloud of highly flammable gas. The subsequent explosion smashed windows and blew open doors in nearby Scunthorpe and was heard as far away as Grimsby and Doncaster. About 1,000 buildings in Flixborough and 800 in Scunthorpe were damaged. Fires burned for 10 days.
All 18 people in the plant control room were killed, as were nine other site workers and a delivery driver who had a heart attack whilst in the cab of his vehicle. The local A&E was overwhelmed.
A memorial to those who died can be found outside Flixborough parish church.
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
Immediately after the disaster, the New Scientist commented that an opportunity had arisen to trigger meaningful changes in industrial safety, rather than sweeping everything under the useful carpet of ‘human error’.
At the same time, legislation that would eventually become the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) was making its way through parliament. The timing is a coincidence; the legislation had been in preparation for several years and had attracted little attention.
The HSWA is umbrella legislation that underpins all legal health and safety requirements for both employees and employers in the UK. Before its introduction, workplace safety in the UK was governed by a patchwork of laws and regulations, usually focused on specific industries and often dating back to the 19th century. Workplace deaths and injuries were increasing, from 170k casualties in 1958 to 325k in 1969.
On 31 July 1974, the proposals passed into law. As a result, the UK has developed regulations and enforcement to a very high standard. Subsequently, other countries have made similar changes and the Act has informed European safety legislation.
Influence of the Flixborough disaster
The HSWA may have been already in the pipeline when the Flixborough plant exploded but the tragedy undoubtedly focused the minds of both the public and the government and made them ready to support the new legislation with the necessary funds and enforcement power.
Alongside the court inquiry into the explosion, a committee was established to advise on issues associated with hazardous process plants. The Advisory Committee on Major Hazards (ACMH) had significant representation from safety professionals from the nuclear and chemical industries.
The new Act required employers to keep risks to workers as low as reasonably practicable and also to avoid risk to the public so far as reasonably practicable. Under this new regime, good practice becomes, by definition, ‘reasonably practicable’ and should be adopted.
The reports from the ACMH laid bare the defects present in the running of hazardous installations at that time. It was clear that changes were needed in all areas, whether regulatory, operational or training.
The committee’s second report, published in 1979, stated: “We believe that the best practices must be followed by all companies […] it is not sufficient in areas of high risk for employers merely to demonstrate to themselves that all is well. They should now be required to demonstrate to the community as a whole that their plants are properly designed, well-constructed and safely operated.”
It can be seen that the new legislation and the reports from the ACMH were both singing from the same hymn sheet, each providing reinforcement for the other.
Going forward
The Act hasn’t completely eliminated workplace deaths and injuries. Disasters such as the King’s Cross fire, Piper Alpha and the Clapham Junction crash burn bright in our collective memory. There also remain the accidents that occur in people’s everyday working lives. The UK has never had a year with fewer than 100 workplace fatalities.
Nonetheless, things have improved. In 1974, workplace mortality was 2.9 per 100,000 workers; in 2023-24, it dropped to 0.42, representing 138 work-related deaths. Some of this improvement stems from the decline of our heavy industries and the rise of office working.
So ignore the regular whining of soi-disant libertarians who deplore any kind of red tape or ‘nanny state’ intervention. It is beyond doubt that the HSWA has improved the health and well-being of British workers for the last 50 years. May it continue to do so for at least 50 more.
