On 9 May 2006, an explosion at a munitions factory in Gladstone, South Australia killed three workers and injured two others.

The blast, which destroyed the factory and leveled almost everything within a 100 m radius of the factory, was heard up to 70 km away. Emergency services were kept at a distance until bomb experts from Adelaide gave the all-clear to enter the immediate vicinity of the factory.

In June 2010 a decision of Industrial Magistrate Ardlie found that the explosives company failed in its obligation to ensure the safety of its employees and failed to provide and maintain the plant in a safe condition. A second defendant, the responsible officer in charge of a body corporate, was found to have failed to take reasonable steps to ensure compliance by the first defendant with its obligations under section 19(1) of the Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Act 1986.

An appeal was heard in 2011 and a judgment was delivered in 2012, in which the fines ordered as a result of the decision at the original trial were reduced.