Man died after ‘explosion’ at military pyrotechnics factory – coroner told

Fabian Rozniatowski died on May 11, almost four months after the incident at the factory run by PW Defence in Draycott, Derbyshire, on January 20 this year. Mr Rozniatowski died as a result of injuries sustained in the explosion after spending months in an intensive care unit.

An inquest opening on Wednesday (November 22) heard that Mr Rozniatowski, who had worked at the premises for nine months, was working in a room alone mixing compounds to be used in smoke grenades when the explosion occurred at around 9pm on January 20.

Giving evidence, Detective Chief Inspector James Carver, of Derbyshire Police, said that at the time of the explosion, Mr Rozniatowski was working on a production line "where they make smoke grenades for military purposes, for training purposes".

He said: "(Mr Rozniatowski's) job for that evening was mixing various compounds that would create the actual smoke from the device.

"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."

Mr Carver said that 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 was able to make a phone call to his mother as he was taken by ambulance to a hospital, then a specialist burns unit where he died. A forensic post-mortem examination carried out on May 19 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), remains ongoing, adding that it was a "lengthy process".

Several of Mr Rozniatowski's family and friends attended the hearing at Chesterfield Coroner's Court, with many wearing red T-shirts with a picture of him inside a white heart and the name "Fabz" underneath.

PW Defence was bought by WesCom Defence, based in Havant, 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 MOD, 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".

Adjourning proceedings, Ms Lomas, assistant coroner, said: "I'm not in a position to hear evidence today and there is an ongoing investigation.

"It could be that that investigation takes a long time because it's a complicated scene and it is a complicated set of circumstances, so what I will do today is adjourn the inquest and we will keep things under review.

"I expect that if we do hold the inquest in this case, it won't be for quite a while, probably many, many months, so I just want to manage expectations that we may be waiting a while.

"Let me conclude by offering my sincere condolences."

While no date was scheduled for the full inquest, Ms Lomas said an internal review would take place around January 3 next year.