REPORTED OCCUPATIONAL FATALITIES IN UAW-REPRESENTED WORKPLACES 2007

1. Jan. 16, 2007 – James Bains: 64 years old; Electrician; 6 years seniority; CC Metal and Alloys; Calvert City, Kentucky; LU 523, Region 3. The victim was found mortally injured near the base of a manlift vertical conveyor used to travel up and down 4 levels of an electric arc furnace. He had apparently fallen while descending on the manlift. The victim had been assigned to change light bulbs at the top of the eight story furnace and was working alone at the time of the incident. The victim fell from the 8th floor to 4th floor, a distance of approximately 66 feet.

2. Feb. 2, 2007 – Francisco Fraticelli: 59 years old; Core Tech/Utility; 32 years seniority; Ford Motor Company – Cleveland Casting Plant; Brook Park, Ohio; LU 1250, Region 2B. The victim was found lying face down inside a core machine. He had relieved the regular operator approximately 20 minutes earlier. There were no witnesses to the incident and it is unclear why the victim entered the machine. Core machine operators routinely perform tasks in this area and it appeared that a perimeter barrier (railing) had been removed to gain access. The victim was working alone at the time of the incident.

3. Feb. 12, 2007 – Michael Tiller: 51 years old; Electrician; 32 years seniority; DaimlerChrysler – Toledo North Assembly; Toledo, Ohio; LU 12, Region 2B. The victim was found lying on the roller bed of a Hydra-Handler battery changing truck, fatally injured, with his arm pinned in the battery washer door. He was assigned to change, charge and maintain batteries for powered industrial vehicles at the facility. There were no witnesses to the incident and it is unclear why the victim was on the roller bed in front of the battery washer. The victim was working alone at the time of the incident. Initial investigation indicates the washer door may have mis-cycled and closed on the victim’s arm causing him to fall to the roller bed.

4. April 21, 2007 - Anthony J. Dier: 64 years old; Mechanic; 35 years seniority; Kohler Company; Kohler, Wisconsin; LU 833, Region 4. The victim and another mechanic were assigned to disassemble the lid of an electric arc furnace, which included a shaft and yoke assembly, and remove it from the building. After disassembly, the mechanics moved the lid by fork truck to a second story access door and dropped it to the yard below. They could not separate the yoke and shaft as planned so a decision was made to move it in one piece. At this point, the second mechanic went down to the first floor. It is likely the victim used a fork truck to move the shaft and yoke assembly to the second story access door and attempted to transfer it to the yard using a 10 ton, pendulum controlled, overhead crane located nearby. The shaft and yoke assembly apparently fell, striking the victim in the head and pinning him to the floor. The victim was working alone at the time of the incident.

5. Sept. 13, 2007- Neil McMichael: 61 years old; Machine Operator; 43 years seniority; PPG Incorporated; Crestline, OH; LU (not assigned - newly organized); Region 2B. Victim was crushed and killed when he was caught in a glass washing machine while un-jamming glass from the machines roller conveyor.

6. Sept. 22, 2007- John Kelly Wright: 41 years old; Machine Operator; 21 year seniority; Chrysler Corporation-Kokomo Transmission: Kokomo, IN; LU 1166, Region 3. The victim was working on Die Cast Machine 403 making visual checks of parts and removing overflows and flash from bell housings at the time of the incident. At approximately 2 am. he notified his supervisor of problems with an ejector limit switch which he had tightened a bolt on earlier in the shift. He further stated if the bolt came loose again skilled trades would need to be called. A co-worker found the victim in the machine near the ejector limit switch at approximately 5 am. fatally injured. He had apparently entered the machine through an access door equipped with a basic safety interlock. He was crushed between the slide and die block when the machine cycled.

7. Dec. 7, 2007 – Jesse A. Brown II: 40 years old; Production, 18 years seniority; Federal Mogul Corporation, Powertrain Energy Systems; Sparta MI; LU 8, Region 1D. The victim, assigned to the shakeout job on #6 Line, was found shortly after the start of overtime with his body pinned across the shoulder and chest by the hydraulic powered lid of a shot blast machine. No fixed guarding or presence sensing devices safeguard this area. The equipment, found in the automatic mode, allows the lid, weighing approximately 1000 lbs., to close automatically on a time delay. A plastic insert designed to prevent smaller parts from falling through openings onto the shakeout conveyor may not have been in place at the time of the incident. The victim was apparently reaching down into the machine to collect parts that had fallen onto the shakeout conveyor when the lid came down and crushed him.