Abstract: At about 11:50 a.m. on January 1, 1987, Employee #1 was working as a mix equipment operator in Department #077 of the Elkem Metals Company. The head mix unloader had asked some employees of the Traffic Department to bring in three railroad hopper cars full of mix materials. Two of the three cars were to be positioned over the #1 rail crossover on track #1, and the last car was to be located on the straight track. The mixmobile (a small locomotive) and a string of four cars coupled together were already parked on track #1 inside the building. The Traffic Department employees pushed the last three cars over the #1 crossover, but the middle car wouldn't clear the straight at the crossover. The Traffic Department employees decided to push all the cars forward 2 to 3 feet. There was an estimated 6 foot clearance between the parked mixmobile and the first car parked on the track. Employee #1 finished a conversation with a coworkers and approached the rail cars from the blind side; he was not seen by either the Traffic Department employees or by the head mix unloader. Employee #1 did not know the cars were going to be moved and was not given any warning. He was crushed and killed between the parked locomotive and the rail cars as he passed between them. Employee #1 had been employed sporadically as a mix equipment operator since April 30, 1979.