Kaiser Steel open hearth furnace scene from the movie "Steel Town", 1952

The Technicolor movie "Steel Town" from 1952 wasn't that much of a story (no Oscar nominations), but the steel mill scenes filmed on location at the Kaiser Steel works at Fontana, California are fascinating to watch. This scene, shot within the open hearth furnaces shop, begins with the "J" hooks suspended from an overhead crane attaching to the trunnions of a ladle of blast furnace molten iron that either came from the hot metal rail car to the left or the hot metal mixer to the right. A removable runner (a trough to allow the molten iron to flow into the open hearth) is placed by a Wellman charging machine at one of the furnace's doors. The ladle of molten iron transported by the overhead crane is then emptied, via the removable runner, into the open hearth. Finally, our apprentice steel worker is taught the proper method in preventing molten steel from overflowing onto the charging floor by "banking" the furnace doorways with dolomite.

Note the lack of hard hats, protective clothing to safe guard against dangerous sparks and incredible heat and safety goggles (other than to protect your eye sight from the glare from within the furnace) by the steel workers back then. Guess things were different from a safety perspective back in 1952.

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