Foam plant fined for violations after fatal fire
 BY PAT KIMBROUGH
 ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
  HIGH POINT – The N.C. Department of Labor proposed a total of $7,350 in fines Friday for a High Point company after an investigation into an explosion that killed an employee and injured two oth­er people last spring.
  Occupational Safety and Health inspec­tors found six violations at Future Foam of North Carolina in connection with the May 23 explosion, which occurred when flammable vapors in the foam-making plant were ignited by molten slag from a cutting torch that was being used to cut a pipe,according to authorities.
  The explosion sparked a fire in a foam­processing tunnel in the plant, which is located at 1300 Prospect St.
  The explosion critically injured 49­ year-old Ricky Dale Hardin of Trinity, a seven-year Future Foam employee. He died two weeks later. Two others – Gary Gulley of Georgia and Charles Anderson of Union,S.C.– sustained minor injuries. Calls to Future Foam were not re­turned Friday. The fines are due in 15 working days unless the company requests an infor- mal conference with state officials or contests the citations.
  All of the violations were listed as seri­ous by OSHA. The largest proposed fine – $3,500 – is for not having the area where the torch was being used inspect­ed before or on the day of the accident, according to OSHA’s citation notice.
  An employee who wasn’t authorized to approve such work allowed a cutting torch to be used approximately seven feet from the tunnel, in which flammable acetone was being used, OSHA reported. Another proposed fine, for $2,800, is for using equipment, such as lighting, an electric motor and a power outlet, in and around the foam-processing tunnel that wasn’t approved for “hazardous” loca­tions, OSHA reported.
  Investigators also proposed levying a $1,050 fine because the company did not properly notify the subcontractor per­forming the torch work about the chemi­cals, including acetone, used in its foam processing operations, OSHA found.
  pkimbrough@hpe.com |888-3531