The public prosecution authorities of Verkhnyaya Salda and the regional division of Rostechnadzor (the state environmental, technological, and nuclear safety watchdog) inspected VSMPO-AVISMA for compliance with the labor protection standards. It was felt the inspection was needed after a high-pressure container exploded in one of the gas furnaces at 11 PM on December 2, 2007. Six people were injured, with one of them dying immediately and another one passing away in hospital.


It was detected in the course of the investigation that the company’s management was not trying hard enough to ensure workers’ safety and protection; there is no proper control over how diligently the workers obey the safety regulations, either. Violations to this extent were found in five out of forty production shops. The head and the shop foreman of the shop where the accident took place as well as the company’s GD will have to face administrative liability. As for the accident itself, it has resulted in a criminal suit related to violation of labor safety regulations that led to involuntary manslaughter.