Derbyshire man describes “emotionally taxing” week spent at site of an explosion that claimed the life of a two-year-old boy

Steve Critchlow, a principal registered gas engineer at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), was called to Mallowdale Avenue in Heysham, Lancashire, following the blast in May 2021.

He stayed at the site for a week as part of his investigation for HSE with his report later supporting the conviction of a man who received 15 years in jail for manslaughter, damaging a gas meter and theft of gas.

“It was a very emotionally taxing and high-profile case,” Steve said. “You can have a really massive incident that takes a lot of work.

Steve Critchlow was named gas engineer incident investigator of the year at the National Gas Industry Awards. Photo submitted

“The explosion was caused by a next-door neighbour tampering with their gas installation and my work involved attending the scene, doing some laboratory testing and producing a report.”

Steve, of Buxton, who was named this year’s Engineer of the Year at the National Gas Industry Awards made the comments during this year’s Gas Safety Week, an annual awareness week with the goal of keeping the nation gas safe.

The 50-year-old has also investigated fatal gas explosions in the Cairngorms in 2015 and in Shaw, Oldham, in 2011. Steve’s role also requires him to investigate carbon monoxide poisonings, including a fatality in Ipswich in 2012 – which proved to be particularly touching.

Steve, from Buxton, said: “The family of the deceased wrote to me afterwards and sent me a lovely card with a handwritten message just saying how much they appreciated what I had done and they could see I did my very best to explain to them what had happened.

A family sent a card with a handwritten message saying how much they appreciated what Steve had done

“And I kept that card because that is kind of the motivation every time, why I jump up out of my seat and drive around the country to attend these tragic incidents.”

Alongside his investigation work, Steve’s role at HSE requires him to appear in court as an expert evidence provider for gas-related prosecutions. And in July 2023, Steve’s incident investigation work saw him named as Engineer of the Year at the National Gas Industry Awards.