Foundry fined for '99 death

Monday, April 3, 2000

By Lisa Medendorp CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

A Norton Shores foundry has been cited and fined by the state in connection with an explosion that killed an employee last October.

Michael Bray Jr., 24, suffered second- and third-degree burns over most of his body when he was sprayed by molten metal Oct. 11 at Cannon-Muskegon Corp., 2875 Lincoln. He died the next day at a Grand Rapids hospital. Two other employees were injured.

A report from the state Department of Consumer and Industry Services said the explosion was probably the result of molten stainless steel coming in contact with water.

A state safety officer this month gave the company three "serious" citations and levied fines totaling $3,750, according to the report obtained by The Chronicle under the Freedom of Information Act.

A "serious" citation means the foundry had a condition likely to cause death or serious physical harm and that the employer did or could have known the condition existed, said James Gordon, assistant chief in the state's General Industrial Safety Division.

The finding could have significant legal ramifications in any subsequent wrongful death lawsuit filed by survivors. There was no record of any such suit in Muskegon County Circuit Court or in federal court, and Bray's widow declined comment.

Gordon said Cannon-Muskegon has asked for the language of one citation to be clarified, and has also sought penalty reductions. The company also asked for more time to train its employees.

Specifically, the state investigation found Cannon-Muskegon:

n Improperly installed a low-flow monitoring device which failed to notify employees that a valve was not open to cool the system.

n Failed to provide training to each newly assigned employee regarding the operating procedures and hazards of the job.

n Failed to ensure use of personal protective equipment such as leggings, spats, aprons, and arm or face protection while handling molten metal. Employees working near the machine wore cotton work uniforms, gloves and safety glasses, the report said.

"The citations they issued, I thought, were very fair. They did a thorough investigation," said Joseph Snowden, president of the company that makes specialty alloys. "We are doing everything we can to make sure we continually improve the safety of our operation."

The state's report indicated that since the accident, the firm has installed alarms on the system; developed a start-up/shutdown check list and procedure; and has otherwise improved water-flow monitoring.

The 12:53 p.m. accident on Oct. 11 occurred during start-up of the production process after the normal weekend shutdown. A radio-controlled crane, operated by Bray, had moved a ladle containing tons of molten metal to a trough through which molten metal flows into a continuous casting machine, the state's report said.

Bray set the ladle into place while standing directly behind the casting machine. The ladle was "tapped," and the flow of molten metal into the trough began, according to the state's report.

In the casting machine, the molten metal goes into one end of what looks like a hollow tube and a solid bar of metal comes out the other end. The tube is surrounded by a water jacket, which cools the molten metal so it solidifies, Gordon said.

During shutdown periods, the water flows through a filtering system. When the process is being started up again, a valve to the filtering system is supposed to be shut and a valve to the cooling system should be opened.

"To the best of our knowledge, the water was left running through the filtering system instead of the cooling system," said Gordon. "When the cooling process started, the water did not kick in the way it should have.

"Without cooling water flowing, the machine started getting hotter and hotter. The low-flow device (installed previously by the company) could not tell whether the water was flowing through the cooling system or the filtering system," he said.

Gordon said someone in the control room saw the temperature rising rapidly, opened a door and shouted out a warning, but it was too late.

The molten metal burned through the tube and came in contact with residual water that remained in the system from previous use, he said. The resulting steam explosion sprayed molten metal.

Bray is survived by his wife, Michelle, and son, Kaleb, as well as his parents, Michael and Patricia Bray. Family members said they received copies of the report. Michelle Bray declined comment when contacted by The Chronicle.

However, Patricia Bray said the company has been good to the family. "The citations that were found were really not something that was done purposely," she said. "We have no bad feelings toward them." Nothing, she said, will bring her son back.

"Every month, a group of guys - people who worked with him - comes out to talk with us," she said. "You don't know how much that means to a mother."

Snowden said the death has been a "real tragedy" for everyone at the company as well. "I can't say enough about the Bray family," he said. "They recognized that many of us were also grieving and mourning the loss of a friend and colleague. They reached out to us, too."

Patricia Bray said Snowden visited her recently, and told her: "We don't want you to think this is what we think his life is worth (referring to the $3,750 fine).'

"Those people loved him. If it was a bigger company, I guess they would have just written us off, but they're not like that," she said.

She also said the company has contributed to her grandson's education fund; put up a plaque in the company cafeteria with a picture of her son; and provided college scholarship money to a deserving player on the Orchard View High School football team in honor of her son, who was an all-area football player in 1992.

-- - (x@xxx.com), April 03, 2000