Pankaj Oswal fled Perth in 2011 after his company Burrup Fertilisers went into receivership. Picture: Alan Pryke Source: The Sunday Times A GIANT fertiliser plant is so unsafe it's a ticking time bomb that could "blow up Karratha," worried workers say. After calls from The Sunday Times yesterday afternoon, Department of Mines and Petroleum bosses said they would send two dangerous-goods officers to investigate the plant, formerly owned by fugitive billionaires Pankaj and Radhika Oswal. Technician Ashley Stevensen, 50, was so concerned he agreed to speak out, risking his job as he labelled the plant a "giant bomb." "We make liquid ammonia that's highly explosive," he said. We're less than 1km from the Woodside gas plant so if we blow, it all blows. If that happened, it would take out all of Karratha. Mr Stevensen and several other workers who spoke to The Sunday Times in a conference call claimed maintenance at the plant was substandard, worn parts and machinery were creating dangerous conditions that had caused several fires, and safety complaints to authorities were falling on deaf ears. He said workers were inadequately trained to fight fires and fire-fighting equipment was below par. The Oswals fled WA in 2011 after their company Burrup Fertilisers went into receivership. Burrup Fertilisers was sold to Yara Australia and its subsidiary Yara Pilbara Fertilisers runs the $700 million ammonia plant one of world's biggest ammonia facilities, producing 850,000 tonnes a year. "We're scared the place is going to blow," Mr Stevensen said. We're shit scared about safety. We're scared to come to work. Someone has to hear about this. One worker's wife said: "We're living a nightmare. Every day I wonder if he'll come home. Department of Mines and Petroleum safety executive director Simon Ridge said the department had received an anonymous complaint about safety concerns. Officers would investigate, he said. Yara Pilbara Fertilisers chief executive Mark Loquan admitted safety concerns had been raised internally and the company was "working through" them. But he said claims over the danger were "unnecessarily alarmist and exaggerated.""The company has placed a priority on the safety of our workers and the safe operation of the plant," he said. There has been no lost-time injury at the facility for almost 500 days and we have placed a major emphasis on emergency response training and improving the competencies of our employees. Safety will always be our priority.