State Asks Kaiser About Work Safety

State regulators said Thursday they have asked Kaiser Aluminum Corp. to provide assurances that 700 salaried workers are not in danger as they operate the hot Mead smelter and sprawling Trentwood rolling mill.

The action came after the striking Steelworkers raised concerns about the safety of Kaiser employees - including secretaries and other office workers - who have been enlisted in the company’s effort to operate the plant without skilled union workers.

“We’ll investigate serious injuries and, of course, all fatalities,” said Craig Hinnekamp, regional administrator for the Washington Department of Labor and Industries. “We will respond to any formal complaints.”

As of late Thursday, L&I had received no complaints from Kaiser employees about work conditions, Hinnekamp said. No life-threatening injuries inside the plant have been reported, he said.

Several salaried workers, however, have been treated for heat exhaustion, smashed fingers, minor burns, falls and breathing problems.

L&I has made no on-site visits, Hinnekamp said, and Kaiser is not scheduled for a formal inspection for another four years.

But Hinnekamp said the agency wants to know who is operating overhead cranes, handling molten metal, driving forklifts and performing other dangerous tasks.

He said Mead Works manager Dave Kjos assured regulators by telephone that only trained employees who had worked at Mead prior to the strike were operating dangerous equipment.

Hinnekamp said that L&I has not verified Kjos’ reply, and the level of training at Kaiser is largely determined by the company, not state regulators.

Hinnekamp said Kaiser agreed to respond to written questions on worker safety by early next week. Depending on how Kaiser responds, L&I will decide whether to conduct on-site inspections.

Wes Beck, vice president of the Steelworkers Local 338, said that is not good enough. For the sake of Kaiser employees, he said, L&I should do an inspection immediately.

“The work is dangerous,” Beck said. “We have people injured almost daily and we work there every day.”

Beck said Kaiser typically puts new employees through several days of classroom and hands-on training before releasing them into the factories.

Beck said hazards include quiet battery-powered trucks, which can silently run over workers; potline furnaces and remelting centers, where splashing hot metal can cause serious burns; and heavy lifting, which can cause back injuries.

Kaiser’s salaried employees are working 12-hour shifts, compared with the normal eight-hour shift.