Explosion at Grodna Azot: Two workers in intensive care

On 29 August, an explosion occurred in a boiler unit at the “Khimvalakno Plant,” a branch of JSC "Grodna Azot". Two workers of the enterprise sustained severe injuries.

Official sources described the incident as a “gas-air mixture deflagration” during the transfer of the boiler from natural gas to diesel fuel. In reality, it was an explosion — an industrial accident that points to serious failures in occupational safety compliance and in the maintenance of equipment.

According to the technical labour inspectorate of the pro-government “Belkhimprafsayuz,” one of the workers sustained second-degree burns covering 18% of his body surface. The second worker was in even more critical condition: he suffered a traumatic brain injury, a skull fracture, and multiple lacerations caused by fragments.

Both men were taken to hospital. One of them underwent emergency cranial surgery; his condition is now assessed as stable but critical. The Investigative Committee and the state-controlled trade union announced the start of an inquiry and the provision of “support” to the victims.

Thousands of workers are employed at Grodna Azot. Many of them are already accustomed to the fact that the occupational safety system exists largely on paper. With the liquidation of the Independent Trade Union in 2022, workers at the enterprise no longer have any real mechanism to defend their rights or to demand safe working conditions.

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