An independent audit of the ISPAT steel plant in Cork harbour is to begin immediately with the agreement of the company and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA). The move was welcomed yesterday by SIPTU, which represents the majority of the 330 workers at the plant where an employee lost his life 11 days ago in a fire. It said the independent audit would determine whether present safety measures were adequate and what new ones, if any, might be necessary. Mr Tom Mulcahy, a 53-yearold employee, died on January 15th in a fire close to a laboratory at the plant. The cause of the fire has been investigated by the HSA as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and Cork County Council, but as yet no details have emerged.
Mr John McDonnell, general secretary of SIPTU, said that while media coverage of the accident had rightly pointed out SIPTU's concerns for the safety of employees at ISPAT "on an ongoing basis", it would be wrong to infer that management at the plant had been indifferent to the union's representations on health and safety issues.
He added that Mr Richard Foster, of the Heath Lambert Group in the UK, which had extensive experience of the steel industry, would begin the safety audit immediately and make his report available probably within a month.