Three employees of Uraldomnoremont-Yekaterinburg had to face disciplinary liability for violating the labor safety regulations at Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant, which led to a gas poisoning of some workers there, Chelyabinsk Region’s public prosecution authorities report.

The prosecution authorities investigated the incident involving seven workers of Korund+ and Rodnik going to hospital; the workers had contracts for the repair of blast furnace 5 at Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant.

The victims of the accident were busy working on the blast furnace seams and installing graphite blocks with some cast iron (still hot) at the bottom of the furnace. To decrease the temperature, some water was sprayed onto the blast furnace, which resulted in vapor and aerosol production. The workers were provided with work-wear and protective masks that got totally worn out within the first few hours of their work.

These violations of the labor safety requirements led to seven workers getting into hospitals with respiratory tract infections.

Under the terms of the victims’ contracts, the task of controlling the compliance with the labor and industrial safety regulations rested with the customer, Uraldomnoremont-Yekaterinburg.