Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
BY LAURIE HAHN, Times-Union Staff Writer
Dalton Foundries was assessed $20,000 by the Indiana Department of Labor in "proposed penalties" for safety violations, according to a report issued Thursday.
The report, by IDL's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said the proposed penalty included two serious violations, which were charged $5,000 apiece, and one repeat violation, with a $10,000 fine.
IOSHA's assessment was the result of an inspection of the Dalton Foundries facility in Warsaw following a Jan. 22 explosion in which one woman was injured. Wanda Newsome, a 22-year Dalton employee, suffered first- and second-degree burns on her face, neck, shoulders, arms and sides after an explosion blew the top and sides off the machine she was operating.
The report said the portable oven Newsome operated "had an air flow monitor that was 'Jumpered Out' which was a factor in the explosion that occurred on or about 1/22/97." It also said an air recirculation fan in the same portable oven was running backward, which also contributed to the explosion.
Both violations were corrected during the inspection, and all the violations Dalton was cited for have been corrected, said Dan Hirsch, Dalton's plant manager.
The other serious violation cited by IOSHA concerned the same portable oven, which was being used to dry alcohol-dipped cores; the electrical heating elements caused alcohol vapors to ignite, the report said.
The repeat violation involved obstruction of passageways or walkways: Dalton was cited for not having a way to warn employees when a charge crane was close to a gang way. Dalton also was charged for this violation in an IOSHA inspection report issued on Dec. 5, 1995, following a June 1995 explosion in which three foundry workers were killed.
The proposed penalty for the repeat violation was $10,000.
No penalty was assessed for a "nonserious" violation in which the door used by employees in emergency exits was found to be "partially blocked with wood skids, 55 gallon drum, boxes of material and other objects."
Dalton will appeal the fines, Hirsch said.
"We will appeal on the size of the fine and on the serious" rating, he said. "It was just an oversight. We just didn't realize that we were using the equipment improperly. We didn't realize there was a problem or we wouldn't have done it this way."
Indiana's Commissioner of Labor Kenneth Zeller said today that Dalton requested an informal conference, which has been scheduled for April 28. Dalton officials will meet with the director of the division that inspected the foundry to discuss the violations and fines. At that conference, Zeller said, Dalton may present evidence that they were wrongly cited, and the fines could be reduced.
If the matter is not settled at the informal conference, Zeller said, and if Dalton formally contests the fines, the matter will be scheduled for a formal hearing before the Board of Safety Review, and an administrative law judge will issue a decision.
However, Zeller said, the case will likely be settled at the informal hearing. He refused to speculate about the amount of the fine Dalton may be required to pay after the issue is settled.
Dalton officials were surprised at the amount of the fines assessed, Hirsch said.
"It surprised us quite a bit. The incident wasn't that major."
The 1995 inspection originally assessed $58,500 in fines for safety violations in the June explosion. That amount was later amended to $36,375, plus $22,125 in a fund for the families of the workers who were killed.
The most recent IOSHA inspections took place this year between Jan. 28 and March 11.
Dalton president Kenneth Davidson was out of the office today and unavailable for comment.
