'Surprised how anyone could survive': Terrifying moment father-of-three caught in massive fireball at scrap yard

Exclusive: Heart-stopping vision has emerged of a scrap metal worker being engulfed in a ball of fire during an industrial gas explosion he says was the result of systemic safety failures.

Scott O'Keefe suffered burns to 76 per cent of his body in September 2020 while operating an excavator at Omega Metal Recyclers in Bendigo.

Security footage of the incident obtained exclusively by A Current Affair showed a huge inferno break out, followed by the harrowing sight of O'Keefe emerging from the smoke with flames leaping from his body.

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"It blew me off my feet and I got up as a ball of fire," O'Keefe said.

"I'm quite surprised I'm not in a wooden box."

The explosion occurred while O'Keefe, a father-of-three, was using an excavator to crush gas cylinders.

He said under yard protocols, cylinders were to be drained and marked with a cross to indicate they were safe to process.

However, O'Keefe claimed he encountered a cylinder that had been marked as empty but still contained gas.

When he attempted to halt the machinery, he discovered the safety mechanisms were non-functional.

"I've reached over, pressed the emergency stop button on the excavator," he said.

"The emergency stop button wasn't even connected."

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The blast was so severe it lifted the 30-tonne excavator off the ground and was felt up to seven kilometres away.

"I ripped all my clothes off down to my jocks and then went over to the tap that was on the corner of the building and I didn't have physical strength to even turn on the tap," O'Keefe said.

"The skin was actually melting off my hands."

WorkSafe Victoria subsequently prosecuted Omega Metal Recyclers, which was fined more than $50,000 for unsafe practices.

O'Keefe was separately awarded a substantial WorkCover payout.

His lawyer, Fleur Jackson of Slater and Gordon, described the injuries as among the worst she had seen in her career.

"I was just surprised how anyone could survive it," she said.

"Basic safety systems weren't in place which meant that Scott was put at risk."

While Omega Metal Recyclers has since closed its Bendigo location, A Current Affair can reveal its directors are operating a new wrecking yard in Melbourne.

They declined to be interviewed when contacted by the program, instead accusing O'Keefe of "playing victim".

Producer: Amelia Hirst