Fatal blast mill owner said 'there's no money' when concerns raised, court told

The owner of a mill where four people died in an explosion said "there's no money'' when an employee raised concerns about procedures not being followed, a court has heard.

The blast at the Wood Treatment Ltd mill in Bosley, Cheshire, on July 17 2015 killed cleaner Dorothy Bailey, 62, maintenance fitter Derek William Barks, known as Will, 51, mill worker Derek Moore, 62, and chargehand Jason Shingler, 38, whose body was never recovered.

At Chester Town Hall on Wednesday, former purchasing manager Alan Seddon told the court staff were "fighting a losing battle'' at the mill from 2013 to the time he left in February 2015.

He said he had raised concerns with owner and managing director George Boden, who is charged with four counts of gross negligence manslaughter.

He said: "I told him we weren't doing things like we should be, procedures we had got in place weren't being followed.''

He said staff were unable to do all their duties because they were "just too busy doing other things''.

Asked what Boden's response was, Mr Seddon said: "There's no money.''

He told the court he had also raised concerns with Boden that staff were being hired and not going through an induction process with him.

He said he was told: "Shut up and stop moaning.''

Mr Seddon said he began to have problems getting suppliers as it would take six months for them to be paid.

He told the court all purchases he made had to be signed off by Boden and would be amended, sometimes to half the amount of the supplies he wanted.

Mr Seddon, who said he knew wood dust was explosive, told the court there had been a deep clean at the mill in 2014 following an improvement notice issued by the Health and Safety Executive, but it did not remain clean.

He said: "We hadn't got the cleaning staff. Dorothy Bailey was on her own trying to keep it clean of dust, she couldn't possibly do it on her own.''

Mr Seddon, who started working at the mill in 1994, said there had previously been four cleaners but by 2014 there was only Mrs Bailey.

He said in some areas there were "mounds'' of "sawdust and it was in the air ''like snow".

Boden, 65, of Church Road, Stockport, denies four counts of gross negligence manslaughter and a health and safety offence.

Wood Treatment Ltd has admitted a health and safety offence but denies four counts of corporate manslaughter, while mill manager Peter Shingler, 57, of Tunstall Road, Bosley, and operations manager Phil Smith, 59, of Raglan Road, Macclesfield, both deny a health and safety offence.