Key facts
- Wessex Water pleaded guilty to three charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act at Bristol Magistrates' Court.
- Luke Wheaton, 16, Ray White, 57, Brian Vickery, 63, and Mike James, 64, died in the December 2020 blast.
- The explosion occurred in a silo containing biosolids at the Avonmouth sewage treatment plant in Bristol.
- Judge Lynn Matthews referred the case to Bristol Crown Court, with the next hearing due on January 8.
- HSE principal inspector Simon Chilcott said the blast "should never have occurred" and cited "clear, identifiable failures".
Wessex Water pleaded guilty at Bristol Magistrates' Court on November 13, 2026 to three charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act, following an explosion at its Avonmouth sewage treatment plant in Bristol that killed four workers in December 2020.
The dead were Luke Wheaton, 16, an apprentice at the firm; Ray White, 57, and Brian Vickery, 63, employees of Wessex Water; and Mike James, 64, a contractor working at the site. The explosion occurred in a silo containing biosolids, recycled organic matter used by farmers as agricultural fertiliser, while the four were on the silo roof.
The charges were failing, between 2013 and 2020, to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees; failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of someone other than an employee; and failing to comply with a health and safety notice issued in 2021.
Documents cited in the case described a "perfect explosive mixture", a "serious risk to personnel" and a smell of gas so strong the authors said they could not stay in the area to complete their report. Wessex Water said it had "robust process controls on site" and that the matters identified by the reports had been resolved, adding that the reports related to a different part of the site than the blast.
Simon Chilcott, HM Principal Inspector from HSE, said the blast "should never have occurred" and that the investigation found Wessex Water had made "clear, identifiable failures that could too reasonably have been prevented". Judge Lynn Matthews referred the "complex and sensitive" case to Bristol Crown Court, where the next hearing was due on January 8. According to the Sentencing Council, Wessex Water could face an unlimited fine.