WEST READING, Pa. - The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday released documents related to the March 24, 2023 blast at R.M. Palmer Company in West Reading that killed seven of the chocolate factory's employees.

The extensive report details the events leading up to the explosion at 4:55 p.m. that leveled a building, sparked a huge fire and rocked neighboring communities.

Smell of gas

Many employees in both Building 1 and Building 2 reported the smell of gas in the hour before Building 2 exploded, but no evacuation order was ever given, the documents say.

In one of those instances, a shift supervisor told the employees reporting the gas smell that they could leave at any time, though those workers told the NTSB they did not feel they could evacuate for fear of losing their jobs.

In other instances, though, some supervisors further investigated the reported smell and could smell it themselves, the report says. One such supervisor had to leave the building because the smell of gas was so strong that it hurt his eyes, the NTSB says. He sat outside from 4:47-4:50 p.m., minutes before the explosion.

Security video also shows employees gathered around a gas meter outside of Building 2, then later the plant manager and other supervisors inspecting the gas meter.

Lack of safety procedures

Despite many people smelling natural gas, no evacuation orders were ever given for either building before the explosion, the NTSB says.

The CEO of the company told the board that employees were allowed to self-evacuate, though they were unsure if this was communicated to employees. The NTSB also found that R.M. Palmer's emergency preparedness plan, which addresses food and safety, had no procedures that addressed natural gas emergencies.

Additionally, the company's safety director had left the company and those duties were split between two other managers, the report says. Employees told investigators that they were never trained on how to respond to a natural gas emergency.

OSHA had released a report in October saying R.M. Palmer could have prevented the tragedy by following required safety procedures and evacuating employees after the gas smell was reported. The company has continued to dispute that report, saying that OSHA does not have an evacuation procedure specific to a natural gas explosion.

The OSHA report also cited the company for not clearly marking emergency exit signs, using flexible cords improperly and for recordkeeping violations.