The fire toThyssenkrupp steelworks of Turinwhich took place in the night between the 5 And December 6, 2007was a serious disaster at work that caused the death of 7 workers. The long procedural process has identified the accident of the accident.incussion And it poor investment in safetydue to the progressive dismantling of the production site intended for closing, but which at that moment was still in full business. The terrible fire It cost life to 7 of the 8 workers present in the area that night. If the facts were quickly ascertained by the authorities, the same cannot be said responsibility within the company. Only nine years later, with one Cassation sentencethe first arrests for the defendants residing in Italy, and only in 2023 also the CEO Harald EspenhahnGerman citizen, he began to serve his sentence in semi-freedom.
The former Thyssenkrupp plant in Turin is now owned by Arvedi Ast, which has started a reclamation project. Despite interventions to improve safety and reduce pollution, the area is still contaminated, in particular from hexavalent chromiuma carcinogenic substance. To improve the situation, the city council approved a project to transform the area into a public parkaiming for the redevelopment of the area and the improvement of the surrounding environment.
The state of the Thyssenkrupp steelworks of Turin in 2007
The TYSSENKRUPP factory of Turin, a industrial complex on the outskirts of the city and near the great Pellerina parkin the 2000s he crossed a crisis due to the company’s willingness to gradually dispose of the production of steel laminates.
The intention of Close the system and transfer elsewhere the machinery brought the company to Reduce investments on the Turin website, including those for theinstallation of safety systems Like the presence of automatic fire extinguishers throughout the production line. Still, this intervention had also been recommended by the insurance company consultants, following minor episodes that took place in other establishments of the German multinational, but the Council remained unheard of.
Also the maintenance of the plants existing, as highlighted by subsequent investigations, was precarious: the oil pipes under pressure, necessary for the operation of the machinery, they were not subjected to regular inspection. At the time of the accident, the indicators of correct positioning of the steel ribbons along the line did not work, and the formation of the operators was scarce compared to the risks of the processes.
What happened at the Turikrupp in Turin and the causes of the accident
In the night between 5 and 6 December 2007, a terrible fire hit the Turin factory of the steel thirtykrupp, causing the death of seven workers. It is one of the most serious catastrophes in the workplace of recent history. The areas where the accident occurred were the relief area e purge (i.e. cleaning) of the steel tapes: placed at 3 meters high from the ground, it received steel wrapped in coils and steeped. The metal was protected by a layer of paper to separate the ribbon coils: this layer was then removed for subsequent processes, el ‘oil was collected for drippingbefore drafting the steel ribbon. The dripping time was however insufficientfactor that favored the fall of oil on the floor. In the work area, the removal of the paper from the area was also neglected, due to the poor training staff and insufficiency of the controls.
On the night of December 5, the line had been temporarily stop for maintenance and was commanded in manual by the operators: in particular, it had been deactivated automatic control of the centering of the steel ribbon, necessary to avoid rubbing the metal along the line and the consequent trigger of sparks.
At the time of the resumption of activities, the control of the centering remained in manual mode: the indicator light of incorrect positioning of the tape was lightning and the operators did not notice the forgetfulness. The sparks due to the rubbing of the ribbon fired a first fire of modest entity to the waste materials (paper and oil) present below the line. The 8 workers of the area tried to turn it off by riding on the spot with fire extinguishers, given the absence of an automatic system capable of stopping the flames in the bud.
However, the fire involved one of the pressure pipes under pressure of the machinery: a flexible rubberlong exposed to the heat of the small fire, broke up with consequent nebulization (formation of small drops in the air) oil. It was precisely this “fog” of oil, finely mixed with the oxygen of the air, that caused the so -called “Flash Fire“, one cloud who immediately expanded for 12 meters investing the workers engaged with fire extinguishers.
The flames spread and were tamed only after a long intervention of the firefighters, immediately rushed by the city command of Corso Regina Margherita 330, practically bordering the factory. Unfortunately, however, for the workers the fate was already marked: the serious burns They caused the death on the spot of one of them and subsequently six other colleagues, after days and weeks of struggle in the hospitals of the city. Just one of them, Antonio Boccuzzi, he managed to save himself reporting burns to the face and the direct testimony of the horrors lived.
The Thyssenkrupp accident of Turin: trial and convictions
The tragedy shook public opinion, despite the fact that the deaths at work are unfortunately an almost daily reality in our country. The findings of the investigators ascertained the causes of the accident and the state of the plant, but the definition of responsibilities It was a more complex path.
In the various degrees of judgment, the decisions of managers, local administrators and the management have been assessed, up to the figure of theCEO of the time Harald Espenhahn.
The initial charge of voluntary murder was reduced to manslaughterdespite the protests of the civil parties. This interpretation was confirmed by the judgment of the Court of Cassationarrived 9 years later, with Penis between 6 and 8 years old Taken for four Italian defendants on May 29, 2015.
For the two German defendants, the requests for conviction had to suffer a further step, To be implemented by foreign justice: for the Ad Espehahn the handcuffs finally triggered the 10 August 2023, More than 16 years after the accident, but under a semi-freedom regime (prison only at night, with working permits) and with one reduced from 9 years required by Italian prosecutors to 5 years, maximum limit provided for by German law for this type of crime.
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