The need to keep hazardous plants and concentrations of people apart
has been known for a long time. In the 19th century a series of explosions
in fireworks and explosives factories in the UK led ultimately to regulations
on location and an inspectorate to enforce them. In 1915, however,
the government insisted that TNT should be manufactured in a factory at
Silvertown, a heavily built-up area near London. The owners of the
factory, Brunner Mond, objected but were overruled as explosives were
urgently needed to support the war effort. In 1917 54 tons of TNT
exploded, devastating the site and the surrounding area. Seventy-three
people were killed, including everyone working in the factory, and a
hundred were seriously injured. Eighty-three houses were flattened or so
badly damaged that they had to be demolished and 765 were seriously
damaged and needed new interiors. After the explosion the officials who
had insisted that production of TNT at Silvertown was essential now said
that the loss of the factory would make no practical difference to the
output of munitions16.