RELATIVES of those who lost their lives in the ICL blast yesterday welcomed Lord Gill's report into the tragedy, but called for an end to Britain's "soft touch" health and safety regime, which they believe led to an "unhealthy safety culture" at the plastics factory.
Responding to Lord Gill's report, which cited the failure by factory owners ICL Ltd to follow through on recommendations to examine the condition of the pipework that later leaked flammable liquefied petroleum gas, the ICL Support Group - which represents the families of five of the nine victims - said the HSE's role in the disaster had been overlooked.
It said in a statement: "While we do believe that the truth has come out in the inquiry as to what caused the explosion, we are concerned that the inquiry did not examine the wider health and safety failings that we believe could have led to an unhealthy safety culture in this workplace.
"The time has come for the HSE to accept that soft touch' regulation does not work and for workers throughout the UK, whether they work with LPG or not, to have confidence that health and safety regulators have employers quaking in their boots."
The statement, read out at a press conference in the STUC's headquarters in Glasgow, was backed by the families of victims Annette Doyle, Kenneth Murray, Thomas McAuley, Tracey McErlane and Ann Trench.
Rosemary Doyle, Annette's mother, said there could "never be any closure".
"Five years on you just learn to live with it, but there's no closure," she said, adding that she believes the tragedy was rooted as much in "negligent" health and safety regulation as in the corroded pipework.
She went on: "I feel the HSE are very guilty, because they knew that this company was not meeting health and safety standards and did nothing about it.
"So it just kept on flouting health and safety rules. How can that happen?
"The sad thing is when something like this happens at work, it just becomes a health and safety issue. But if someone goes out in a faulty car and kills someone, they're taken to court."
Kirsteen Murray, whose brother, Kenneth, 45, died in the tragedy, welcomed the findings of the report, but added that she was disappointed no-one would accept responsibility for the failings which ultimately caused the explosion.
"There's no-one willing to say that this was my responsibility'," she said.
Ian Tasker, assistant secretary of the STUC, said the disaster could have been avoided if the company had spent just a few hundred pounds on repairs. "It's important to note that it would only have cost £400 to replace the pipes. Nine people lost their lives for £400."
Ann McKechin, Labour MP for Glasgow North, said the report "vindicates the need for an inquiry".
Some survivors and relatives had expressed reservations last year over whether a public inquiry was necessary following a civil action heard at the High Court in 2007.
Ms McKechin added: "Clearly there have been major failings by the company itself, but also by the HSE. We all know that this accident should never have happened."
The HSE has been given an eight-week deadline in which to respond the report.
Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy said the families had suffered an "unimaginable loss".
