Partner of Peterborough fireworks factory blast worker slams failures

Chelsey Berriman said there were "endless failures" by the company her partner worked for

The partner of a man who was killed by a blast at a fireworks factory said the "total disregard for safety" at the site was "devastating".

Brendan Ledgister, 24, was working for Le Maitre Ltd in Peterborough when a product he was using ignited and caused two explosions on 2 October 2018.

Chelsey Berriman said the "endless" failures highlighted at his inquest had been "gut wrenching".

Practices at the plant had since been made safer, a company director said.

Mr Ledgister died following explosions caused by "dangerous" methods of making fireworks, assistant coroner for Cambridgeshire Keith Morton concluded on Wednesday.

The inquest heard Mr Ledgister was making two large fireworks and was hand-mixing materials with ball bearings when the blast occurred.

He suffered multiple internal injuries and massive burns and died a day later.

This hand-mixing method and the use of ball bearings "was a very dangerous thing to do" as it could cause electrostatic friction, the coroner said.

The couple's daughter was eight months old at the time of the incident and Ms Berriman said the trauma of Mr Ledgister's death was something she had to "navigate through" with her.

The Health and Safety Executive found there were issues with tools Brendan Ledgister was using

Reacting to the conclusion, Ms Berriman told the BBC: "I would like to add just how despicable, gut wrenching and heart-breaking it is hearing the endless amount of failures in safety which led to Brendan's death. The total disregard for his safety is devastating.

"He was just an employee to them but, to me, he was my future, our daughter's daddy and his dad's only son and best friend."

She said the whole family carried "this trauma" every day.

Brendan Ledgister died at a fireworks factory where he worked as a pyrotechnic technician

Earlier this year, La Maitre was fined £500,000 after being convicted of health and safety regulation breaches.

Workers were also killed in previous incidents at Le Maitre in 1988 and 1990.

Since Mr Ledgister's death, hand-mixing had stopped and procedures that fully complied with safety rules had been introduced, joint managing director Karen Cornacchia told the inquest.

A safety compliance manager with 35 years' experience in explosives had also been taken on.

The firm went into liquidation after Mr Ledgister's death, but it was reformed as LM140121 Ltd with the same management.

Le Maitre Ltd was found guilty of health and safety breaches at Peterborough Magistrates' Court