OSHA conducting routine investigation

<br>MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) _ An inspector with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is looking to see whether safety regulations were broken in a fatal explosion at a Muskogee foundry. <br><br>Steven

Thursday, February 21st 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) _ An inspector with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is looking to see whether safety regulations were broken in a fatal explosion at a Muskogee foundry.

Steven Allen Meredith, 20, died Saturday from pneumonia as a result of thermal burns, the state Medical Examiner's Office in Tulsa said. Meredith suffered burns to 80 percent of his body in the explosion Feb. 1 at American Foundry Inc.

An inspector toured the plant Wednesday. A ruling on the furnace explosion will be made within a month after the inspector is finished, said William White, OSHA director in Oklahoma City.

``We don't have enough facts to make any speculative ideas on what occurred in the explosion,'' White said.

American Foundry Inc., which makes metal casings, reported the death to OSHA officials Monday.

OSHA is required to visit sites where fatal accidents occur, White said. The agency has dealt with numerous foundry explosions.

``That is an injury that happens quite frequently,'' he said.

White said OSHA visits after a fatality to see whether a federal regulation was violated or whether a new regulation should be written into the code.

Services for Meredith were held Wednesday.