An explosion occurred in a dynamite packaging shop at a plant specialised in the manufacturing of gelatinous explosives. In all, 90 kg of dynamite detonated. The only technician working in the shop at the time of the accident was killed. Before the explosion, the employee had likely been performing the following operations: placing explosives onto the conveyor belt, cleaning components with a scratch brush and the boxing machine with compressed air, extracting 3 waste trays placed under the machine, and removing explosives handled using a plastic spoon either to a waste container or back into the machine. The victim’s extremely mutilated body was found 20 m away. Shockwave effects and the pressure surge were noticed up to 150 m from the accident site: a roof destroyed, the boxing machine buried underground, fragments of buildings blasted within a radius of 20-30 m (in some cases 150 m), machine fragments ejected 15 m. Property damage was assessed at €500,000. Accident investigations were unable to determine the exact cause. A number of measures were adopted, including: closure of the ammonium nitrate transport line to a pneumatic conveyor; weekly controls aimed at detecting foreign objects in the sieve; the tunnel housing the conveyor protected from falling objects; metal detectors installed at the end of the conveyor before introducing explosives through the vibrating sieve; access restricted to authorised personnel; machine operations without human presence guaranteed by installing key-activated safety switches blocking access to high-risk zones; wearing of clothing without pockets; and tool inventories conducted before and after work shifts, with metal/metal contact being avoided whenever possible during explosives manufacturing.

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