Abstract: During the second shift on October 22, a magnesium melting crew was topping off holding and charging furnace pots. As part of this process, Employee #1, a melter, was to use a forklift attachment called a sludger to scoop and remove sludge from the bottom of the pot. Employee #1 had been on the job only two weeks. There were two sludgers available for use but only one had been preheated. Employee #1 mistakenly took the cold sludger and immersed it in a bath of molten magnesium, causing an explosion. Employee #1 was killed. Employees #2 through #6 were injured by the metal thrown from the pot. Employee #5 suffered a back sprain fighting the fire.