Product Description

Grinnell Corporation was the dominant U.S. manufacturer of automatic fire-sprinkler systems from the late 19th century through the modern era, supplying wet-pipe, dry-pipe, pre-action, and deluge sprinkler systems to industrial, commercial, institutional, and Navy shipboard fire-protection applications. Grinnell automatic fire-sprinkler head packing — the asbestos-bearing sealing elements inside the sprinkler head and at the head-to-branch-line connection — was a standard component of Grinnell heads throughout the asbestos era.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Grinnell fire-sprinkler head sealing systems included:

  • Asbestos-fiber seat gaskets between the head cap and the discharge orifice
  • Asbestos discs used as the pip-cap sealing element on solder-link and glass-bulb heads
  • Asbestos-braided packing at the head-to-branch-line threaded connection
  • Asbestos-cord wrap on the threads of heads installed on high-temperature process lines
  • Asbestos-fiber-and-mica composite seat seals on early Grinnell head designs

These sealing elements were disturbed during any sprinkler-head replacement (routine after activation, painting incidents, or corrosion), during scheduled sprinkler re-heading programs after long service life, and during system flushing and testing operations. Sprinkler fitters and pipefitters unscrewed heads, cleaned the branch-line threads, wire-brushed the seat, and reinstalled new heads — an activity repeated hundreds of times over a building lifecycle.

Grinnell has been named as a Manufacturer Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation.

Workers Exposed

  • Sprinkler fitters (UA Local 669) installing, replacing, and re-heading Grinnell automatic sprinkler heads
  • Pipefitters (UA) on new-construction sprinkler system installation and re-piping projects
  • Building maintenance mechanics replacing damaged, painted-over, or corroded heads in industrial and commercial facilities
  • Facility fire-protection technicians performing scheduled head-replacement programs after 50-year service intervals
  • Bystander trades working overhead in ceiling spaces during sprinkler-head replacement

Wire-brushing old head-seat gasket residue, unscrewing painted-in place heads, and cutting old asbestos cord from branch-line threads were among the fiber-release activities alleged in publicly filed litigation.