Product Description

In addition to its mining-equipment business, Harnischfeger Corporation supplied P&H overhead traveling bridge cranes and heavy industrial cranes to steel mills, foundries, forge shops, powerhouses, shipyards, and heavy-manufacturing plants across the United States for most of the twentieth century. P&H cranes ranged from small workshop bridge cranes to 500-ton and larger ladle and coil-handling cranes in steelmaking bays.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that P&H overhead cranes used asbestos-composition brake pads and woven asbestos brake shoe linings on their hoist, trolley, and bridge brakes during the decades when asbestos was the standard heavy-duty industrial friction material. Overhead cranes cycle their brakes hundreds of times per shift, and plaintiffs allegedly encountered the linings during frequent scheduled brake relining and adjustment performed on the crane bridge, in the machinery house, and on the shop floor.

Asbestos Content

Plaintiffs alleged that P&H overhead crane brake systems contained asbestos in the following roles:

  • Molded asbestos brake shoe pads — bolted to shoes on hoist, trolley, and bridge brakes.
  • Woven asbestos brake bands and linings — used on older band-type crane brakes.
  • Asbestos friction segments — on disc-brake designs used on later P&H cranes.
  • Brake dust residue — accumulated on crane bridges, machinery houses, and shop floors below, particularly on high-cycle steel mill cranes.
  • Replacement parts and service instructions — plaintiffs alleged that P&H service literature specified asbestos-bearing brake friction parts for scheduled maintenance into the 1970s.

Workers Exposed

  • Crane mechanics — brake relining, shoe replacement, and adjustment on P&H bridge cranes in steel mills, foundries, and powerhouses.
  • Millwrights — heavy overhaul, installation, and rebuild of P&H crane machinery.
  • Industrial electricians — servicing brake solenoids, contactors, and controllers on crane bridges in dust-laden environments.
  • Steel mill and foundry mechanics — supporting crane brake service during outages.
  • Bystanders — millwrights, crane operators, and shop workers on the floor beneath cranes where brake dust settled.

Take-home exposure was alleged where crane mechanics and millwrights carried asbestos fibers home on work clothing.