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Safer work
Paying tribute to those we lost
Photo: Deepika Mehta
Picture the pit: a 30-foot wide by 100-foot long hole enclosed by a railing at ground level, where one worker keeps watch from above as another descends 11 feet to check six bolts at the base of a bell furnace before it’s loaded with coiled flat steel.
They worked in two-person teams. At least that’s how it used to be done at AK Steel’s Coshocton (Ohio) Works mill, about three hours south of Cleveland, where UAW Local 3462 members process finished steel for automotive and household appliances.
But to cut costs the company reduced maintenance shifts from four mechanics working in pairs of two to three workers total.
And without a second worker observing from above, the crane operator who loads steel onto the base can’t see what (or who) is down there.
Like David Wentz, a 38-year-old maintenance mechanic working the midnight shift alone Feb. 20, 2008.
Wentz was in the pit, bent over tightening the bolt. The overhead crane positioned and lowered a 17-ton roll of steel onto the base, crushing him to death before 2 a.m.
"He took the shift solo," said Local 3462 President John Williamson of Wentz, who had 11 years’ seniority. "It was a five-minute job."
And it was the plant’s first fatality in more than 50 years since it opened.
A year later, the incident is still under investigation. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the company for unsafe procedures. The local union is still fighting to make the crane procedure as safe as possible.
Wentz is survived by his wife, Tracy, and their two daughters, Jaedyn, 11, and Jorryn, 7.
Wentz’s tragic death is just one among thousands of workplace fatalities that occur in the United States each year. To honor the fallen – and fight for better working conditions for the living – working families and health and safety activists set aside April 28 as Workers Memorial Day. UAW members will mark this year’s event with rallies and memorial observances across the nation, in Canada and Puerto Rico.
Six UAW members were killed on the job in 2008, including two in Puerto Rico.
We pay tribute to Wentz and all of our UAW brothers and sisters who were killed or injured on the job, and we extend our deepest sympathy to their families and friends.
Reported occupational fatalities in
UAW-represented workplaces in 2008
Abel J. Gonzales, 55, UAW Local 2256
truck driver 300 for the city of Lansing in Lansing, Mich.
Brother Gonzales was assigned to drive a tandem-axle dump truck to remove material from a "dig-down" site on a public roadway. When he arrived, another dump truck (single-axle) was in the work zone. The trucks had to back up to the "dig-down" site one at a time to be loaded. The route through the work zone to the loading location was curved and slightly uphill. The victim had difficulty maneuvering the truck backward up the route and was unable to reach the loading location. (He normally drove a smaller, single-axle dump truck.) The job site supervisor instructed the drivers to switch vehicles. The drivers parked the trucks side by side near the entrance to the work zone and in position to back up to the loading site. Brother Gonzales gathered personal items, exited his truck and walked behind both trucks to switch vehicles. As he passed behind the second truck, witnesses saw him drop some papers, which blew behind the vehicle he had just exited. As he went to retrieve the papers, the other truck, which had started to back up, struck him and knocked him down.
William D. LaVanway, 54, UAW Local 383
electrician at Robert Bosch Corp. Chassis Systems in St. Joseph, Mich.
Brother LaVanway was assigned to investigate a "hot spot" found by thermograph scans on a power distribution panel board in Dept. 48. He was working on a fusible switch bucket to determine the problem in the fuse block. He followed established procedures placing the disconnect switch in the "off" position before opening the bucket door and tested to verify power was off to both the load side and line side of the fuse block. The bucket was an older design that didn’t have visible switchblades for positive identification of their position. Using a screwdriver to show his supervisor that the fuse clip had good compression and wasn’t loose, Brother LaVanway was fatally injured when an arc fault explosion occurred.
Luis Ruiz Otero, 37, UAW Local 2341
road worker at the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP) in Yauco, Puerto Rico
Brother Otero was working on an asphalt patching crew in the left lane of eastbound PR-2 when he and another worker were struck by a car. He suffered a fatal skull fracture at the scene. PR-2 is a four-lane divided highway separated by a guardrail on a narrow median. Initial investigation revealed the work zone safety plan was inadequate. The work zone was condensed, traffic control devices (such as barricades and barriers) were not in use, and DTOP workers assigned to roadway operations received little or no training.
Frederick A. Todd, 39, UAW Local 387
die setter at Ford Motor Co.’s Woodhaven Stamping facility in Trenton, Mich.
Brother Todd and other maintenance workers were preparing four dies for placement into a transfer press. The dies are moved using transfer bolsters. The transfer bolster in use was positioned in a staging area near the press doors and parallel to a second transfer bolster. The transfer bolsters are air driven and controlled by a two-button pendant with directional movement set by three air valves. The pendant had been set down on the bolster work platform. Brother Todd walked on the 1-inch wide platform path between the two transfer bolsters to the air supply valve 14 feet away. He turned the valve, located between the bolsters, to the "on" position. The transfer bolster he was working on unexpectedly moved toward the second stationary bolster, trapping him. He was caught between the pillars of the two transfer bolsters and crushed.
Hiram Torres, 61, UAW Local 3401
warehouse worker at Jose Santiago in Catano, Puerto Rico
Brother Torres was assigned as a helper to deliver food products and materials to a second-floor cafeteria at a customer location. His normal job was in the warehouse, and he was filling in for the regular worker. He and the driver unloaded material from the delivery truck, placed it on a powered lift platform using a two-wheeled hand truck, closed the lift doors and activated the lift. Both workers walked to the second floor and opened the lift doors to unload. Brother Torres stepped onto the lift platform to position himself behind the hand truck and fell through an unguarded 28- by-78-inch opening between the lift platform and back wall. The area had poor lighting, and this was the workers’ first time delivering to this location.
David Wentz, 38, UAW Local 3462
maintenance mechanic at AK Steel Coshocton Works in Coshocton, Ohio
Brother Wentz was assigned to check torque on a nut in the fan assembly at the base of a bell furnace prior to the loading of coiled flat steel. The bell furnace base is located in an 11-foot deep pit. This task had become necessary before each load cycle because preventive maintenance resources were reduced. Before the reductions, two maintenance mechanics were assigned to perform this task. As Wentz bent over tightening the bolt, an overhead trolley crane positioned and lowered a 17-ton roll of steel onto the base and crushed him. He was working alone.
Source: UAW Health and Safety Department
