Don't kick molten steel!
The theme of the week is dangerous jobs, the brave people who work them, and the terrible accidents that occur when safety guidelines aren't met. Today's story is about Rob, and it's not a pretty one.
Rob worked in a foundry where molten steel was poured into large molds (like the one pictured above). In Rob's case, this foundry was a fairly massive operation, so the mold he was working on was 7 feet tall and 14 feet wide. Makeshift scaffolding was actually needed just to be able to pour the steel into the mold.
One day, after successfully pouring the steel, a bag of chemicals got stuck. Typically these bags go right into the mold and help give the steel its strength and shape when it's cooled down, but if they don't melt in there are going to be problems. Company protocol was to use large rods to push the bags into the mold, but on this day the bag was stuck in a tricky spot where the rod couldn't reach.
The steel was cooling and the bag was melting, so there wasn't a lot of time. Pressured to fix the situation, Rob walked out onto the mold himself. With supervisors and co-workers watching, he tried to kick the bag into the mold. In doing so, his foot grazed part of the molten steel. At 2800 degrees, it immediately ignited the bottom of his pants on fire. He ran from the steel and ripped off his pants, but it was too late and he suffered burns so severe that he lost his leg.
While the company's official stance was that employees should never walk out onto the mold, this was something that was internally allowed and even encouraged. To be efficient, foremen in the foundry would rather have their employees kicking the bags in than wasting the finished beam because enough chemicals didn't get in.
That's small consolation to Rob, though, who was pressured into doing something extremely dangerous and now has to spend the rest of his life suffering for it. When a business puts employees at risk like this and disregards their safety, they can't hide behind official company policy.
Rob ended up winning a slam-dunk case against his former employers in court, but it took years and a lot of money. If waiting that long isn't an option, that's why we're here. It doesn't matter who you're up against - when you're working with us, you'll get the money you need to weather the storm.
If this is what you need, you can submit a quick application right now, give us a call at (866) 587-4320, or send an e-mail to info@simiafunding.com. We want to help you, so let us know about your situation.
