Steel production is one of the largest industries in our part of the country. In fact, Indiana produces more steel than any other state. Consider this: Gary Works, located on the shores of Lake Michigan at One North Broadway in Gary, Indiana, is recognized as the largest steel manufacturing plant in the United States with an annual raw steelmaking capability of 7,500,000 net tons.
Moreover, steel production in 2022 is on the rise. Read, “Steel production starts 2022 with a 9.5% increase,” written by Joseph S. Pete and published by the NWI Times on February 22, 2022. Accordingly, those employed in our local steel production industry should feel confident that their jobs are secure in a volatile economy as the need for steel steadily rises.
However, from the perspective of safety agencies and advocates of accident victims and their loved ones, there remains a concern that worker confidence in their employer’s ability to shield them from serious or fatal bodily injuries while on the job may be misplaced. For more, read our earlier discussion in Indiana Remains Top Steel Producer in the Nation: The Deadly Dangers of Steel Production.
This is particularly true for those working in the steel foundries of Indiana and Illinois. Very few jobs endanger workers as those tasked with the transformation (“finishing”) of molten steel into products.
Casting in Steel Mills: The Importance of Steel Foundries
Take iron and carbon, put them together at very high heat (in excess of 2600°F), and steel is the result. It is now a molten metal which has to be formed into shapes and cooled in order to form useable products. This is the process of casting steel, and it happens in the foundry.
Essentially, it is a sophisticated factory process. The steel foundry workers (like molders, coremakers, crane operators, forklift operators, machinists, mechanics, millwrights, and tool operators) are entrusted with a series of extremely dangerous tasks: (1) to first melt the solid metals to a very high heat (2) creating a liquid which is then (3) poured into a mold; once cooled inside the mold, (4) the solid is removed from the casting form. This form may be any number of metal products, in any size: from metal wire to aircraft engine parts, etc.
Injury Risks in Steel Foundry
Obviously, this is an exceptionally dangerous environment for foundry workers. These steel company employees face a variety of hazards and risks that can cause catastrophic injuries or death, such as:
- Explosions
- Fires
- Exposure to hot materials (e.g., molten metal or hot foundry machinery and equipment)
- Exposure to toxic or harmful gases
- Exposure to toxic vapors or fumes
- Exposure to toxic or harmful materials (e.g., metal fragments)
- Exposure to toxic or harmful chemicals
- Exposure to harmful materials
- Slippery surfaces on the job site
- Heights on the job site
- Heavy Equipment and Machinery.
For the foundry worker, these types of work hazards can mean a life-altering accident or even death in a foundry incident. Steel foundry accidents include:
- Serious or fatal burns from molten metal
- Serious or fatal burns from contact with hot machinery or equipment
- Serious or fatal burns from the explosion of molten metal during the casting process
- Inhalation of harmful chemicals or toxins
- Falls from heights on the worksite
- Falls on slippery surfaces on the worksite
- Crushing injuries from machinery or equipment (including grinding wheels).
Employer Duty to Protect Foundry Workers From Harm
Under the state laws of Indiana and Illinois, longstanding legal duties exist for those who employ workers in our dangerous steel mills for the purpose of making a profit for the steel company. The company has a well-recognized duty to protect its employees from harm while on the job.
This is a complicated responsibility for the steel company. It includes not only assessing risk at the workplace, in all its facets, but taking all reasonable and prudent steps to protect the workers from getting hurt on the job.
These employer duties involve studying the steel foundry, in particular, for reasonably foreseeable hazards and eliminating them. For instance, the foundry should be monitored not only for its high temperatures but also for its humidity (which can cause dangerous slippery surfaces). Things like spot coolers, fans, air-conditioning, proper ventilation, and de-humidifiers should be placed in the foundry. They should be routinely checked for proper use and function; repaired and maintained when necessary; and replaced as warranted.
Providing automation for some steps of the work process is another step that the steel company can take to help protect foundry workers from harm on the job. Machinery may help to protect against the worker having to personally handle casting molds, for example.
There should be regular safety audits of the entire foundry to find hazards and implement corrective action that increases safety for the foundry workers. Steel foundries should also have regular emergency safety drills so foundry workers are ready to react appropriately in the event of a regional or site-wide hazard. See, Bernard, Edward, and Gajanan Shankarrao Patange. “Productivity improvement through identifying hazardous conditions in steel foundry.” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. Vol. 872. No. 1. IOP Publishing, 2020.
To the extent that all danger cannot be removed from the work environment of the steel foundry, then the foundry danger must be minimized as much as possible by the steel company. This can include educating the steel foundry workers of the ongoing hazards they face (e.g., how to handle heat stress) and how best to avoid harm while on each specific task. It will also involve providing proper Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to the foundry worker. For more on PPE, read Personal Protective Equipment and Serious Industrial Accidents.
Claims for Justice After Serious or Fatal Steel Foundry Accident in Indiana or Illinois
Unfortunately, while economic forecasts for the steel industry predict an increase in revenue this will not automatically jive with an increase in boardroom interest in safety protections for those employed in our steel foundries, despite the known dangers foundry workers face.
Steel foundry workers in Indiana and Illinois enter into one of our most hazardous workplaces. Some will be the victim of preventable accidents where they are permanently injured or fall to their death from a scaffold or on a slippery surface; they perish or are catastrophically harmed from burns suffered from fire or molten metal, or by inhaling toxins; or they lose their limbs or their lives in a crushing accident involving machinery or equipment.
These foundry workers and their loved ones have a right to investigate any steel foundry accident to determine its cause – and whether or not there has been a violation of established legal duties of care and safety by their employer.
The laws of Indiana and Illinois recognize the dangers facing steel foundry workers and the ramifications of serious or fatal accident upon the worker’s family and loved ones. Negligence, wrongful death, and state workers’ compensation statutes may provide justice for victims of fatal steel foundry accidents.
Read:
- Ironworkers in Indiana and Illinois: High Risk of Serious or Fatal Injuries on the Job
- Steel Mill Workers in Indiana and Illinois: Rising Production and Greater Danger of Injury or Death
- Steel Mill Workers’ Risk of Injury on the Job: Equipment, Working Conditions
- The Courage That’s Needed to Work in Steel Mills.
Steel foundry workers in the steel mills of Indiana and Illinois need to be aware not only of the dangers they face each day at their work site, but to know the concrete legal responsibilities the steel company has to remove or minimize the risks these workers face of serious injury or death on the job. Please be careful out there!
