U. S. Department of Labor

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Directorate of Science, Technology and Medicine

Office of Science and Technology Assessment

Safety and Health Information Bulletin

SHIB 01-07-2004

This Safety and Health Information Bulletin is not

a standard or regulation, and it creates no new

legal obligations. The Bulletin is advisory in

nature, informational in content, and is intended to

assist employers in providing a safe and healthful

workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health

Act requires employers to comply with hazardspecific safety and health standards. In addition,

pursuant to Section 5(a)(1), the General Duty

Clause of the Act, employers must provide their

employees with a workplace free from recognized

hazards likely to cause death or serious physical

harm. Employers can be cited for violating the

General Duty Clause if there is a recognized

hazard and they do not take reasonable steps to

prevent or abate the hazard. However, failure to

implement these recommendations is not, in itself,

a violation of the General Duty Clause. Citations

can only be based on standards, regulations, and

the General Duty Clause.

Star ME-1 Dry Fire Sprinklers

Preface

The Consumer Product Safety Commission

(CPSC) issued warnings [1,2,3,4] to consumers

regarding the use of Star ME-1 Dry Fire Sprinklers manufactured from 1961-1998 by various

manufacturers. The CPSC warns that the Star

ME-1 sprinklers present a serious safety risk and

that the heads should be replaced immediately.

The following companies have manufactured over

3.5 million ME-1 sprinklers during the specified

time period and have issued voluntary recalls:

• Mealane Corporation (www.cpsc.gov/

CPSCPUB/PREREL/PRHTML99/

99152.html), Philadelphia, PA, from 1961-

1976. (NOTE: This notice also includes D-1,

RD-1, RE-1 and E-1 sprinklers.)

• Chemetron Corporation (www.cpsc.gov/

CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml03/03116.html),

2381 Executive Center Drive, Boca Raton,

FL 33431, an inactive subsidiary of American

Household Inc., from 1977-1982.

• Sprinkler Corporation of Milwaukee Inc.

(www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/

prhtml03/03117.html), formerly known as

Star Sprinkler Corporation, 307 West Layton

Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53207, from 1983-

1995.

• Central Sprinkler Company (www.cpsc.gov/

cpscpub/prerel/prhtml03/03133.html),

Lansdale, PA, an affiliate of Tyco Fire

 Products LP, from 1996-1998.

Purpose

The purpose of this Safety and Health Information Bulletin is to:

• Inform employers who may have the Star ME1 sprinkler that the CPSC has issued warnings

 regarding their use.

• Recommend employers replace Star ME-1

sprinkler heads that were installed between the

years of 1961-1998.

Background

CPSC received two reports of failures involving Star ME-1 dry sprinklers, one report concerning

a 1976 sprinkler and the other on sprinklers installed

in 1990 [2].
Several sprinklers were removed from

locations and tested by independent testing

laboratories. The results showed that 64 percent

of the tested Star ME-1 sprinklers did not activate

as required and failed the testing. In addition,

many of the Star ME-1’s failed at water pressures

far exceeding requirements [5]. For example,

activation of some sprinkler heads required water

pressures higher than may be available in some

buildings. Water pressure requirements vary

depending upon building use, occupancy, and

hazards as defined by National Fire Protection

Association.

Findings reported in the referenced CPSC

administrative proceeding allege that the sprinklers

are defective, will likely fail to operate during a

fire, and could expose employees to death or

serious injury [5]. The proceeding, which was

recently resolved, led to the recall of the sprinklers.

Description

The Star ME-1 is intended to operate in

accordance with applicable installation codes and

listings, such as National Fire Protection Association or Underwriter’s Laboratory, Inc. The Star

ME-1 is designed so that when the temperature

reaches a particular level, the thermal sensing

element at the exposed end of the sprinkler will

melt and allow water to flow through and discharge from the sprinkler. Due to inadequate

design and/or manufacturing, the Star ME-1

sprinkler will likely fail to operate as intended

during fires [5].

Star ME-1 sprinklers are identified with the

name “Star,” the designation “ME-1,” and a year

of manufacture, for example “81” represents

1981. Figure 1 shows where to locate the

identifying information on a sprinkler head. The

Star ME-1 sprinklers have been installed in a

number of workplaces, including factories, hotels,

hospitals, schools, resorts, office buildings,

warehouses, nursing homes, and supermarkets.

Recommendations

OSHA recommends that employers whose

workplaces are equipped with dry sprinkler

systems take steps to identify and then replace Star

ME-1 sprinkler heads. Employers should check

with a fire protection engineering consultant or

sprinkler design company when replacing these

sprinklers and when evaluating existing systems or

designing a new installation.

Local and state regulations may require that

the replacement work be performed either by a

licensed party, or under an issued permit, or both.

The local and state authorities having jurisdiction

should be contacted prior to the replacement.

In addition to the Star sprinklers identified,

certain other sprinklers are being recalled. Additional information can be obtained about product

recalls through the CPSC Press Releases and

Recalls website at: www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/

prerel.html

References

1. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. CPSC, American Household Inc., (Formerly Sunbeam Corp.) Announce Recall of Star

ME-1 Dry Sprinklers, Administrative Law

Settlement. Washington, DC. Release #03-116.

April 25, 2003. www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/

prhtml03/03116.html

2. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. CPSC Warns Consumers to Replace Star

ME-1 Dry Fire Sprinklers Made by Sprinkler

Corporation of Milwaukee -- Administrative

Lawsuit Settled, Firm Financially Unable to

Conduct Recall --. Washington, DC. Release

#03-117. April 25, 2003. www.cpsc.gov/

cpscpub/prerel/prhtml03/03117.html

3. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. CPSC, Central Sprinkler Company Update Voluntary Recall To Replace O-Ring Fire

Sprinklers. Washington, DC. Release #03-133.

April 28, 2003. www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/

prhtml03/03133.html

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4. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. CPSC, Melanie Corp. Announce Recall of

Star Fire Sprinklers. Washington, DC. Release

#99-152. April 4, 1999. www.cpsc.gov/

CPSCPUB/PREREL/PRHTML99/99152.html

5. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Administrative proceeding in the matter of

Chemtron corporation, Chemtron Investments Inc.,

Sunbeam Corporation, Sprinkler Corporation of

Milwaukee Inc., and Grucon Corporation. Washington, DC. CPSC Docket No. 02-1. October 9,

2001.

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Links/Citations to the websites listed above are

offered for reader’s convenience. Since OSHA

does not control the information contained in the

websites, OSHA cannot assure the accuracy,

relevance, timeliness, or completeness of all of this

information. Moreover, providing links/citations to

such websites does not constitute an endorsement

of the websites, or their content, nor does it

suggest that these websites are the exclusive or

most useful sources of relevant information.