Workers allege repeated safety failures after pyrotechnics blast

Workers at a pyrotechnics company in Winzendorf, Lower Austria, have reported repeated safety problems following an explosion that seriously injured a 45-year-old employee, ORF reported. Police said a chemical reaction in a laboratory waste container was the likely cause.

The substances involved and how they came into contact remained under investigation. The injured employee was flown to Vienna General Hospital. The company said on Friday that he was no longer in life-threatening condition.

Two employees of Astotec Pyrotechnic Solutions told ORF they had witnessed numerous safety-related incidents and feared professional consequences if they spoke publicly. One said there was a daily risk of not leaving the company alive and that an internal record documented many incidents that had not been adequately addressed.

A second employee also reported several accidents in recent years. According to records cited by the workers, a safety-related incident occurred on average every 1.3 days.

The Lower Austria Industrial Inspectorate said it was aware of several previous incidents and had investigated each one that was reported. The inspectorate said the relevant safety issues had been resolved by the company.

The employees also pointed to an accident at the plant on June 29, which was confirmed by the inspectorate and the Wiener Neustadt district authority. According to the district authority, a chemical reaction occurred while a technical mixture was being prepared.

The exact cause of that reaction was not known. Authorities suspected contamination of the production material, an intermediate used in the manufacture of explosives. The district authority said the material had been ordered destroyed and prohibited from further use.

Authorities raised the possibility on Friday that the June incident could be linked to Thursday’s explosion. The two employees said both accidents could have been prevented if the safety of workers had been given sufficient priority.

One employee alleged that the primary explosive potassium dinitrobenzofuroxan, or KDNBF, continued to be produced on a regular basis despite an official ban, including in three-shift operations. The employee said this was also happening on Thursday when the explosion occurred. Authorities have not confirmed the claim.

Astotec declined to comment on the allegations, saying there was not yet enough verified information. The company said it did not want to make statements during the ongoing investigation that could lead to speculation. Production in the affected building has been suspended, and authorities have confirmed that there is no further danger to the surrounding area, the company said.

Employees speculated that improperly extracted solvent vapours may have caused the explosion. They said the extraction system was not designed for three-shift serial production.

Johann Baumschlager, a spokesperson for the Lower Austria police directorate, said the investigation had to be completed before claims of possible safety deficiencies could be confirmed or rejected. The investigation was due to continue on Monday.