Those We Lost

Steve Schneider, February 9, 2000
48 years old; Machine Operator; 28 years seniority; John Deere Dubuque Works, Dubuque, Iowa; LU 94; Region 4. The victim was crushed between the head of a drilling fixture and the frame of the adjacent station on an engine block transfer line.

Daniel Schonmeier, February 24, 2000
58 years old; Electrician (S/T); 18 years seniority; General Motors Saginaw Metal Casting Operations, Saginaw, MI; LU 668; Region 1D. The victim was pinned between the back of a sand distribution car and the sand hopper while replacing reflective tape on the board at the sand dump.

James Hunt, February 27, 2000
53 years old; Truck Driver; 34 years seniority; Ford Lorain Assembly, Lorain, Ohio; LU 425; Region 2. The victim had pulled off a highway to provide assistance at an accident scene. He and a local police officer were injured when a pickup truck sped through the accident scene.

William Marsh, April 14, 2000
51 years old; Crane Operator; 14 months seniority; Bing Steel, Melvindale, Michigan; LU 155; Region 1. The victim was crushed by steel coils as he was preparing coils for cutting.

Gwendolyn Blackwell, April 19, 2000
35 years old; Checker; 12 years seniority; DaimlerChrysler Twinsburg Stamping, Twinsburg, Ohio; LU 122; Region 2. A fork truck was pushing two sets of baskets and two sets of boxes up a ramp and into the building. The lead set of boxes struck a rack causing the victim to be crushed against another fork truck. The victim was checking bar code labels on boxes in the aisle when the incident occurred.

Lazaro Fuentes, May 17, 2000
50 years old; Machine Repair (S/T); 12 years seniority; DaimlerChrysler Jeep Assembly Plant, Toledo, Ohio; LU 12; Region 2B. The victim and another machine repairman were replacing an air valve on a robot spot welder on the side body line. The victim walked across the line to get the replacement valve from another skilled tradesman and as he was walking back the transfer rails returned crushing him.

James R. Sanson, July 31, 2000
56 years old; Heat Treat Operator, Production; 31 years seniority; Fairfield Manufacturing, Lafayette, Indiana; LU 2317; Region 3. The victim and another heat treat operator were moving a punch press with a powered hand truck. The victim was on the operator side of the press and the other employee was operating the powered hand truck facing the opposite side of the press. The press tipped and fell onto the victim as it was being positioned in front of the press platform.

Janis Ruston, September 13, 2000
53 years old; Stacker, Production; 7 years seniority; Unique Fabricating, Inc., Rochester Hills, MI; LU 9699; Region 1. The victim died of crushing injuries when caught between the platens of a clam shell press. She was apparently removing debris when the operator cycled the press.

Barry Gerber, September 17, 2000
52 years old; Forklift Operator; two months seniority; Americold Logistics, Nesquehoning, PA; LU 677, Region 9. The victim was pinned between the forklift he was operating and shelves in a frozen food warehouse.

Larry Green, September 18, 2000
56 years old; Plumber-Pipefitter (S/T); 29 years seniority; Visteon Corporation, Sterling Axle Plant, Sterling Heights, MI; LU 228; Region 1. The victim was crushed while installing a pneumatic cylinder on a parts loading station of an automatic machining line. Maintenance activity initiated the loader cycle while the victim was between the conveyor and the automatic gantry loader.

Dwayne Smith, September 19, 2000
42 years old; Production Material Handling, 1 month seniority; Sennett Steel Corporation, Madison Heights, MI; LU 417; Region 1. The victim was crushed by rolls of steel in a staging area.

Kenneth Hudgens, October 13, 2000
54 years old; Millwright (S/T); 12 years seniority; Visteon Nashville Glass; Nashville, TN; LU 737; Region 8. The victim was crushed as he was performing preventative maintenance work when the machine was cycled inadvertently.

Bishop Jenkins, October 18, 2000
42 years old; Facility Technician; 9 months seniority; New Haven Foundry; New Haven, Michigan; LU 429; Region 1. The victim was moving four racks with a fork truck, that had the overhead guard removed. The racks snagged an overhead guide wire for a phone line causing the top rack to fall back and crush him.

Michael Spears, November 16, 2000
28 years old, Grounds Maintenance Worker, 6 years seniority, Chrysler Proving Grounds, Chelsea, Michigan; LU 1284; Region 1A. The victim fell off of the back of a truck as he was picking up traffic cones from the driving course.

David Lyons, November 24, 2000
51 years old, Electrician (S/T), 28 years Seniority, Delphi Chassis, Dayton, Ohio; LU 696; Region 2B. The victim was crushed by a semi-truck trailer as he was working on a shipping/receiving dock.