THE sister of a man killed during the Stockline factory explosion in Glasgow has said that the "culture of fear" surrounding workplace health and safety had to be ended.
Katie Lambeth, whose brother Thomas McAuley died in the 2004 blast in Maryhill, spoke out as an inquest into the tragedy, in which nine people died, began yesterday.
Mrs Lambeth said she was "delighted" the inquiry had begun adding: "Something ha
s to be done and hopefully the recommendations made at the end of it are followed through."
She added: "For me and my family, we want health and safety regulations tightened up. People should not be afraid to speak out when there is a problem."
Mrs Lambeth said she believed there had been a "culture of fear" in the ICL plastics factory that had prevented people speaking out.
The explosion, which happened on 11 May, was caused by a leak from a liquid petroleum gas pipe in the factory's basement. The blast flattened the building with 56 people inside.
The inquiry yesterday heard survivors' statements about their experiences.
Vacuum foreman David Andrews told how he thought the factory had been hit by an aeroplane.
Mr Andrews said he was working in a separate building when he heard the blast. He said: "The big sliding doors of our building buckled. Initially we did not see anything for the dust. I then saw the building had collapsed. I thought maybe a plane had hit the building."
Ian Mavers, quality inspector at ICL, described hearing a rumble of "earthquake-like proportions".
The full article contains 268 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
