Domestic Grating Producers Warn OSHA and CPSC about Possible Dangers of Chinese Steel Grating; Falsified Chinese Documents Call into Question Safety of Chinese Grating

July 26, 2010

Today, U.S. steel grating producers submitted a letter of concern to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), alerting the organizations to the potential dangers of Chinese steel grating.  The letter calls for an investigation into Chinese steel grating that is installed and held in inventory in the United States.

The letter was prompted by a discovery, made by the U.S. Department of Commerce in a recent countervailing duty investigation, that Chinese steel grating producers had falsified key documents in the proceeding, including mill test certificates which certify the chemical and physical properties of the steel used in the grating products.  

Steel grating is a steel product used in a wide range of load-bearing applications, such as manufacturing and factory flooring and walkways, subway and pedestrian walkways, catwalks and fire escape platforms.  Because steel grating is used in residential, school, commercial, industrial, recreational, transportation and other settings, ensuring the safety and quality of grating is of utmost importance.  In today's letter, AMICO and Fisher & Ludlow wrote that "false certification of the quality of steel grating raises grave concern about the integrity of products, equipment, and structures that use such grating." 

"Chinese producers have admitted that they do not test the steel they use in steel grating, and do not know its chemical and physical properties," said Alan H. Price, partner at Wiley Rein LLP in Washington, DC and counsel to AMICO and Fisher & Ludlow.  "A failure of this unreliable Chinese steel grating could be catastrophic."  To prevent such a possibility, AMICO and Fisher & Ludlow are urging OSHA and CPSC to conduct an investigation into the safety of Chinese grating and to take appropriate action to protect the vast number of Americans that encounter steel grating on a daily basis.   

Today's letter follows a recent warning from the National Association of Architectural Metal Manufacturers (NAAMM), which sets the standards for steel grating.  NAAMM's "Statement to Industry Regarding Quality of Certain Metal Bar Grating as Result of Government Probe into Antidumping Case" warns those who wish to purchase steel grating manufactured to NAAMM standards that, "when selecting grating, they should take appropriate measures to verify the grating is manufactured to NAAMM standards."