Steam explosions at two Ohio companies resulted in citations and proposed fines by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of more than $330,000.
A steam explosion at Globe Metallurgical in Waterford, Ohio on July 10 severely injured a supervisor due to the company's failure to use required containment measures and provide workers with personal protective equipment, according to an OSHA news release issued Jan. 25.
“Globe Metallurgical might have prevented the severe injuries this employee suffered had the company put required safety protections in place,” said Larry Johnson, OSHA area director in Columbus, Ohio, in the release.
Johnson said that a company like Globe Metallurgical should know the industry regulations intended to protect workers, who handle molten materials and the required emergency safety response procedures, the release reported.
Elsewhere, three furnace attendants at Timken Steel’s Faircrest plant in Canton were severely injured July 26, 2022, when an electric arc furnace exploded after water became encapsulated in molten metal. They were hospitalized and one worker died, according to the release.
OSHA investigators found that the company failed to provide the workers with protection from potential steam explosions, the release reported. The company was cited, and $145,027 in proposed penalties were proposed.
“The potential for steam explosions from mixing water and molten metal is a well-known and documented industry hazard," said Howard Eberts, OSHA area director in Cleveland. "TimkenSteel has experience with the hazard and developed company safety procedures to prevent its dangers, but failed to implement them.”
