March 17, 2015. Ural division of Rostechnadzor (the state work safety watchdog) completed its investigation of an accident at UMMC’s Sredneuralsky Copper-Smelting Plant. The accident was caused by poor work organization and equipment defects, the division’s press service reports.

It was determined in the course of the inquiry that a pile of hot dust collapsed through the inspection window of an electric filter and injured the cleaner who was examining the inside of the machine.

‘The inquiry committee detected the following causes of the accident: design defects of the filter and poor work organization (for one, the cleaning jobs were being carried out without any written authorization and were not set out in the operational procedures protocol,’ the press service says.

Based on the results of the investigation, a report was written to reflect all the measures that must be taken: changes must be made in the design of the filter; employees responsible for the accident must be tested for knowledge of labor protection and industrial safety regulations; and the filter cleaners’ working conditions must be specially examined and assessed.

All the materials relating to the case have been placed with the public prosecution authorities, who are to decide whether criminal action will be taken.