Compensation fund launched for Sasol blast victims

Four Sasol employees and six contractors were killed in an explosion at a Sasol plant in Secunda, Mpumalanga. More than 300 people were injured, notes Business Day. In terms of the agreement between the company, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union and Solidarity, the ‘September 2004 Accident Trust’ should be registered by the end of next month. Victims or dependants of the dead can apply for compensation. It will be chaired by Advocate John Myburgh and Sasol will provide the trust with funds to pay the ex-gratia grants. Sasol will also pay the costs of the trust. Full Business Day report

The deal is expected to cost the petrochemicals group at most about R100m – a fraction of the value of comparable international settlements, notes Business Report. It points out that oil giant BP, for example, set aside $700m (R4.56bn) in compensation for employees and their families after a March 2005 explosion at its Texas City refinery killed 15 workers and injured about 170. The Sasol agreement nevertheless drew strong praise from worker representatives, including the outspoken occupational injury lawyer Richard Spoor, who said: ‘The company really does deserve to be commended.’ The deal paves the way for Sasol to pay the difference between what workers and their families would receive in workmen’s compensation under the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act and the actual harm and loss suffered as assessed by SA law. Full report in Business Report