Product Description

Harnischfeger Corporation, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and marketing under the P&H brand, was one of the two dominant American manufacturers of heavy surface-mining and underground-hoisting equipment through the twentieth century. P&H built electric mining shovels for coal, iron, and copper open-pit operations; walking and crawler draglines for overburden removal; and large mine hoists for underground metal and coal mines. The P&H catalog also included overhead cranes and other heavy industrial machinery.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that P&H mining equipment relied on asbestos-composition brake linings across its hoist, swing, crowd, propel, and holding-brake systems during the decades when asbestos was the standard heavy-duty friction material. Mining shovels, draglines, and mine hoists cycled their brakes constantly under heavy load, and plaintiffs allegedly encountered the linings during frequent brake relining and adjustment in field maintenance shops and at the pit.

Asbestos Content

Plaintiffs alleged that P&H mining equipment brake systems contained asbestos in the following roles:

  • Molded asbestos brake blocks — bolted to the shoes of hoist, swing, crowd, and propel brakes on electric mining shovels and draglines.
  • Woven asbestos brake bands — used on band-type holding brakes on mine hoists and older shovel designs.
  • Asbestos friction segments — on multi-shoe disc and drum brake assemblies.
  • Brake dust residue — heavy accumulations in shovel machinery houses and hoist rooms from constant brake cycling under load.
  • Replacement parts and service instructions — plaintiffs alleged that P&H service manuals specified asbestos-bearing brake linings for scheduled maintenance well into the 1970s.

Workers Exposed

  • Mine mechanics and shovel repairmen — brake relining, shoe replacement, and dust cleanup on P&H mining shovels and draglines.
  • Hoist mechanics — brake band and shoe service on P&H underground mine hoists.
  • Oilers and shovel operators — daily inspection and cleaning inside the shovel machinery house.
  • Millwrights — heavy overhaul of P&H equipment in field shops and at the pit.
  • Industrial electricians — servicing brake solenoids and controllers in dust-laden machinery houses.

Take-home exposure was alleged where mine mechanics carried asbestos fibers home on work clothing.