The Thyssen Krupp Accident in Torino: Investigation Methods, Accident Dynamics and Lesson Learned

The Authors of this paper were technical consultants of the Public Prosecutor in the trial for the accident occurred at the ThyssenKrupp(TK) plant in Turin on Dec. 6, 2007. The accident has been recorded as one of the most serious and impressive work accidents happened in Italy in the last years. It caused seven fatalities. On the early morning of December the 6th a modest fire started in the entry section of a pickling and annealing line in the TK plant in Turin. The eight workers that were then on duty started fighting the fire by using portable fire extinguishers and a fire hydrant, and got close to the fire. A violent jet fire, originated by the rupture of a hydraulic circuit, occurred. The flames instantaneously hit the eight workers while they were still trying to control the initial fire. Seven workers suffered very serious burst, one died instantaneously while the other six during the following month. One of them, that had been partially shielded by a fork lift, suffered only minor bursts and survived. The Authors conducted the investigation and followed the whole trial on charge by the Public Prosecutor Office. This paper summarizes the accident dynamics, the causes and the consequences and the forensic methods adopted by the Authors during their investigation. This paper is based on the technical documents provided by the Authors to the Public Prosecutor and presents the Authors’ perspective. Full content can be found in the official documents used in the trial.