Square D Motor Control Centers and Switchgear

Product Description

Square D Company was one of the most prominent manufacturers of electrical distribution and control equipment in the United States throughout the twentieth century. Founded in the early 1900s and headquartered for much of its history in Palatine, Illinois, Square D built a reputation for producing industrial-grade electrical products that were installed across a wide range of commercial, industrial, and institutional settings. The company’s motor control centers and switchgear became standard equipment in power plants, manufacturing facilities, refineries, chemical plants, steel mills, shipyards, and large commercial buildings throughout the country.

Motor control centers are assemblies of enclosed sections containing motor starters, overload protection devices, circuit breakers, and associated wiring. They serve as centralized control points for managing multiple electric motors within an industrial facility. Switchgear refers to a broader category of electrical equipment used to control, protect, and isolate electrical circuits and equipment, typically operating at medium or high voltages. Both product types were essential infrastructure in virtually every large-scale industrial operation during the mid-to-late twentieth century, and Square D was among the leading suppliers of both.

The company was eventually acquired by Schneider Electric in 1991 and continues to operate under the Square D brand name today. However, the products at issue in asbestos-related litigation are those manufactured and distributed during earlier decades when asbestos-containing materials were routinely incorporated into electrical equipment.

Asbestos Content

Litigation records document that Square D motor control centers and switchgear manufactured during the mid-twentieth century contained or were associated with asbestos-containing components. Plaintiffs alleged that asbestos materials were present in several aspects of this equipment, including arc chutes, arc barriers, insulating panels, gaskets, and other internal components designed to manage heat and electrical arcing.

Arc chutes and arc barriers are critical components within circuit breakers and contactors — devices that interrupt electrical current under load conditions. Because interrupting high electrical currents generates significant heat and arc flash, manufacturers historically used asbestos-containing materials to line or construct these components due to asbestos’s heat-resistant and electrically insulating properties. Plaintiffs alleged that Square D incorporated asbestos-containing arc chutes and related insulating materials into their motor control center and switchgear assemblies during the period when such materials were widely accepted industry practice.

In addition to components manufactured or specified by Square D directly, litigation records document claims that Square D equipment was installed, maintained, and repaired alongside or in close proximity to asbestos-containing materials supplied by other manufacturers — including asbestos-containing insulation applied to adjacent piping, conduit wrappings, and building materials. This was especially relevant in industrial environments where electrical equipment operated in close quarters with thermally insulated systems.

Schneider Electric, as the current owner of the Square D brand, has addressed the legacy liability associated with historical asbestos-containing products through the civil litigation system rather than through a dedicated bankruptcy trust fund.

How Workers Were Exposed

Litigation records document that workers in a variety of industrial trades encountered asbestos-containing materials in connection with Square D motor control centers and switchgear. Plaintiffs alleged that exposure occurred during installation, routine maintenance, repair, and replacement of equipment components throughout the operational life of these assemblies.

Electricians and electrical workers were among the most directly exposed. Installing and wiring motor control centers required working in close contact with internal components, including arc chutes and insulating panels that plaintiffs alleged contained asbestos. Routine inspection and testing also brought electricians into proximity with these materials.

Maintenance workers and millwrights in industrial facilities regularly serviced motor control centers and switchgear as part of planned maintenance schedules or in response to equipment failures. Replacing contactors, circuit breakers, arc chutes, and internal insulating components — tasks plaintiffs alleged generated asbestos-containing dust — was a routine part of this work.

Industrial workers generally, including those employed in power generation, petroleum refining, chemical manufacturing, steel production, and heavy industry, were present in environments where Square D equipment was installed throughout manufacturing floors, control rooms, and substations. These workers may have been exposed both through direct contact with the equipment and through the ambient dust generated when the equipment or nearby materials were disturbed.

Shipyard workers encountered Square D motor control centers and switchgear aboard naval and commercial vessels, where electrical distribution equipment was an essential part of ship systems. Litigation records document that asbestos exposure in shipyard environments was compounded by the enclosed spaces and poor ventilation typical of shipboard work.

The nature of motor control center and switchgear maintenance meant that workers often had to open enclosures, remove and replace internal components, and clean accumulated dust from interior surfaces. Plaintiffs alleged that these activities disturbed asbestos-containing materials and released respirable asbestos fibers into the breathing zone of workers performing or working nearby during these tasks. Repeated occupational exposure of this kind over the course of a working career is the pattern most commonly associated with asbestos-related disease development.

Diseases alleged in connection with this type of occupational exposure include mesothelioma, asbestosis, asbestos-related lung cancer, and pleural disease. Mesothelioma in particular — a rare and aggressive cancer of the lining of the lungs or abdomen — is considered a signature disease of asbestos exposure and is the basis for many of the most serious claims in asbestos litigation.

Documented Product Identification

The following details are drawn from public asbestos litigation records, manufacturer catalog pages, technical manuals, and corporate history materials. Each item reflects the product as documented in those sources.

Documented asbestos-use period: 1982

Corporate context: Founded December 15, 1902 as McBride Manufacturing Co. in Detroit. Changed name to Square D Company in 1917 after selling fuse business. Merged with Schneider Electric in 1991 and continues as flagship brand of Schneider Electric North American Division.

Brand identification: Embossed letter D within a square border; known as the SQUARE D trademark

Documented asbestos components: insulation, wiring insulation.

Industries served: residential, commercial, industrial, semiconductors, food and beverage, automotive, pharmaceutical, defense.

Documented product lines:

  • Cartridge-type electrical fuses (1902-1917). Original product line of cartridge fuses assembled in Detroit
  • Safety switch (metal-enclosed) (1915-present). Sheet metal enclosed safety switch with embossed D within square border, replacing earlier cast iron version
  • QO circuit breaker (1955-present). Revolutionary circuit breaker for commercial, residential and industrial applications replacing traditional screw type fuse boxes
  • ASB Insulated Wiring (1982). Asbestos insulated wiring product — asbestos components: insulation.

Square D reported to EPA in 1982 that it was still using asbestos. Company had plant in Columbia, MO associated with asbestos. Manufacturing locations included Detroit, Peru IN, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Iowa, Kentucky (Lexington), Ohio, Wisconsin, Nebraska, North Carolina, and South Carolina.