In December 2010, just two days before Christmas, Alan Caterall, a 54-year-old employee at a kayak molding facility in the United Kingdom, found himself in the break room with his future son-in-law, Mark. Both worked at the same company and were engaged in a peaceful discussion about the holiday gifts they had purchased for their families. The need for discretion was paramount because Alan’s wife and daughter were also employed at the kayak company, and they didn’t want their surprises to be spoiled.
Alan had dedicated a decade to this demanding job, which often entailed strenuous labor. However, he cherished it because it allowed him to spend significant time with his family, given that they all worked together. Even though it was only 7 AM, marking the beginning of their work shifts, the excitement of Christmas prompted Alan and Mark to take a brief break from their duties. They reluctantly concluded their tea-drinking session, acknowledging the need to return to work, and placed their cups in the sink.
Alan proceeded to the factory floor, responsible for maintaining the specialized machinery within the confined rooms where kayaks were molded and assembled. These rooms housed intricate equipment that required meticulous care and expertise, making Alan a valuable asset to the company. He understood the nuances of these machines better than most.
On that particular day, Alan was aware that one of the circuit boards in a molding room had malfunctioned, leading to the decision to halt operations in that area temporarily. As he inspected each molding room, he knew which one had been shut down and was prepared to find it non-operational.
Upon entering the idle molding room, Alan noticed it was in dire need of cleaning. During the kayak production, excess plastic often adhered to the walls and littered the floor. Recognizing an opportunity to tidy up while the room was not in use, Alan took action.
Equipped with a crowbar, Alan entered the dormant molding room and began chipping away at the accumulated plastic, creating a pile to remove. However, as he worked diligently, the room’s doors unexpectedly closed, plunging him into darkness. Alan’s initial concern about the sudden blackout soon led to a more pressing worry—these were automatic doors, indicating that the circuit board had been fixed without anyone realizing he was inside. The molding room was operational, and Alan had only minutes to escape.
Panicked, Alan rushed to the door, attempting to pry it open with his crowbar. His efforts were in vain, as the doors were mechanically sealed and required a button press to release. Desperation set in as he banged on the door, screaming for assistance from anyone on the factory floor to halt the process and free him.
Unbeknownst to Alan, the noise outside on the factory floor drowned out his cries for help. Inside the cramped space, he began to notice the walls glowing red. The molding room was, in fact, an oven, and its temperature was rapidly climbing to nearly 600 degrees Fahrenheit. The crowbar he clutched grew too hot to handle, and the floor became searingly hot, causing his shoes to melt. The air inside became unbearable to breathe.
Alan continued to pound on the door in excruciating pain, leaving bits of his skin with each strike. Ultimately, he collapsed to the ground as he succumbed to the relentless heat, his body igniting, emitting black smoke that seeped onto the factory floor. The factory personnel only realized a dire problem existed within the molding room. They promptly shut it down, opened the doors, and discovered Alan’s tragic fate.
Following their brief conversation about Christmas in the break room, Alan and Mark went their separate ways. Alan ventured to the factory floor and entered the fateful molding room, while Mark ascended to the control room, isolated from the view of the factory floor. Mark’s control panel displayed various lights, switches, and gauges for the molding rooms. Soon after Mark reached his station, a blinking light indicated that the circuit board issue had been resolved, prompting Mark to activate the molding room reactively. Unbeknownst to him, this action initiated the room’s restart process, including sealing its doors and activating the oven.
There were no safety measures or emergency exits inside the molding room to protect against such an eventuality. Mark’s unintentional switch activation led to the tragic demise of his future father-in-law. Five years later, the kayak molding company faced corporate manslaughter charges and a £200,000 fine. The individual responsible for designing the unsafe molding rooms, devoid of safety precautions or emergency exits, also received a £25,000 fine and a nine-month jail sentence.