Draycott: Worker died after explosion at factory, coroner told

Fabian Rozniatowski had been working alone on production line at the factory, the inquest heard

A man died after being "heavily burned" in an explosion at a military pyrotechnics factory, an inquest heard.

Emergency services were called to the factory on 20 January.

Fabian Rozniatowski, 19, died almost four months after the explosion at the factory run by PW Defence in Draycott, Derbyshire.

An inquest opening on Wednesday heard Mr Rozniatowski was mixing compounds, to be used in smoke grenades when the explosion happened.

He spent months in intensive care where he died as a result of injuries on May 11.

Giving evidence, Det Ch Insp James Carver, of Derbyshire Police, said fire crews and officers were called to the scene following the explosion, which happened at about 21:00 GMT.

"We were told that Fabian had been working at the premises for a number of months", Mr Carver said.

He said Mr Rozniatowski, was working on a production line "where they make smoke grenades for military purposes, for training purposes" at the time of the explosion.

"[Mr Rozniatowski's] job for that evening was mixing various compounds that would create the actual smoke from the device," he told the inquest.

"The explosion that took place was confined to the mixing room that Fabian was allocated to work in that evening. He was the only person in that room."

Cause of death

Mr Carver said a supervisor saw Mr Rozniatowski "heavily burned and calling out for help" immediately after the explosion.

Mr Rozniatowski was treated in the site's medical room before emergency services arrived.

He called his mother as he was taken by ambulance to the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

He was later transferred to the specialist burns unit at Wythenshawe Hospital in Greater Manchester, where he died.

A forensic post mortem examination, carried out on 19 May, gave a medical cause of death as the consequence of burns.

Mr Carver confirmed to coroner Sophie Lomas that an investigation into the incident, led jointly by Derbyshire Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), remained ongoing, adding that it was a "lengthy process".

The court heard that Mr Rozniatowski, who was born in Poland and lived in Littleover, Derby, worked as a production operative at the factory in Wilne Road, Draycott.

PW Defence was bought by WesCom Defence, based in Havant, Hampshire, in February 2021.

The WesCom website says the company is a "trusted global producer of pyrotechnics to the defence industry" and a "trusted supplier to UK Ministry of Defence, our Nato allies and friendly nations and customers worldwide".

In a statement in May, the company extended its condolences to Mr Rozniatowski's family and friends and said it was "fully co-operating" with the police and HSE, but said it would be "inappropriate to make any further statement".

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