Workers in walkout over fatal blast at refinery

A 24-year-old man from Grimsby died in the explosion at the Lindsey Oil Refinery (LOR), in North Killingholme, north Lincolnshire, on Tuesday lunchtime. Two others were treated for minor injuries.

A joint police and Health and Safety Executive investigation has been launched into the blaze which created a huge plume of black smoke.

Contractors at the neighbouring ConocoPhillips Humber Refinery downed tools yesterday morning. One said: "We don't think the site is safe. It was all insulated with asbestos and we feel it's all over the site now."

A union spokesman said the explosion called into question the oil company's safety record.

Phil Whitehurst, GMB lead organiser for engineering construction, said the fire started in a heater, where oil is heated to a colossal temperature and which was adjacent to where the workforce at the new HDS-3 plant go to work.

He said: "Total has just been fined heavily after the Buncefield explosion and now they have another one at Lindsey.

"This brings into question Total's safety record yet again."

In a statement oil company Total, which runs LOR, said they didn't believe the site posed a health and safety risk.

A statement said: "Our foremost priority has been to ensure that the areas of the refinery unaffected by the incident are safe for our workforce to continue to work.

"All affected process units at the refinery remain shut down and safely isolated.

"As a precautionary measure, we communicated to our workforce that a full inspection was under way of potentially affected areas. This exercise remains ongoing but all results so far show no risks to the safety and health of our workforce."