Inspection Detail

Inspection: 125385971 - Bethlehem Steel Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Indiana Department Of Labor

Inspection Nr: 125385971

Report ID: 0551800

Date Opened: 02/20/1998

Site Address:
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
U. S. Highway 12
Burns Harbor, IN 46304

Mailing Address:
Po Box 248, Chesterton, IN 46304

Union Status: Union

SIC:3316

NAICS: 0

Inspection Type: Accident

Scope: Partial

Advanced Notice: N

Ownership: Private

Safety/Health: Safety

Close Conference: 07/21/1998

Emphasis:

Case Closed: 08/04/2005

Related Activity
Type	Activity Nr	Safety	Health
Accident	362667461

Violation Summary
Violations/Penalties	Serious	Willful	Repeat	Other	Unclass	Total
Initial Violations	2			1		3
Current Violations
Initial Penalty	$7,500	$0	$0	$0	$0	$7,500
Current Penalty	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
FTA Penalty	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0

Violation Items
#	Citation ID	Citaton Type	Standard Cited	Issuance Date	Abatement Due Date	Current Penalty	Initial Penalty	FTA Penalty	Contest	Latest Event	Note
1.	01001	Serious	2200080101	08/14/1998	08/19/1998	$2,500	$2,500	$0	09/03/1998	J - ALJ Decision	Citation has been deleted.
2.	01002A	Serious	19100147 D02	08/14/1998	08/19/1998	$5,000	$5,000	$0	09/03/1998	J - ALJ Decision	Citation has been deleted.
3.	01002B	Serious	19100147 D05 I	08/14/1998	08/19/1998	$0	$0	$0	09/03/1998	J - ALJ Decision	Citation has been deleted.
4.	02001	Other	19100147 D04 I	08/14/1998	08/19/1998	$0	$0	$0	09/03/1998	J - ALJ Decision	Citation has been deleted.

Investigation Summary

Investigation Nr: 170393391

Event: 02/19/1998

One employee killed, one injured when struck by pit cover

At approximately 4:00 p.m. on February 19, 1998, Employees #1 and #2, mechanical millwrights at Bethlehem Steel who were assigned to the #2 caster, were removing the damaged leading edge section of a horizontally mounted roller pit cover at the East Tundish dump station pit. The pit measured approximately 40 ft long by 16 ft wide by 23 ft deep. They were removing the last three bolts holding the leading edge to the curtain when the leading edge broke away under the internal stored spring cable tension and struck both employees, sweeping them off the pit's enclosure wall. Employee #1 was catapulted 38 ft across the pit into the west wall; he died of internal hemorrhaging. Employee #2 sustained only minor bruises to his lower extremities as the leading edge passed over him. The primary cause of the accident was that the stored spring tension maintained in the roller lever's drum assembly was not released prior to the employees beginning maintenance work.

Keywords: MAINTENANCE, COVER, HEMORRHAGE, WORK RULES, STRUCK AGAINST, ROLLER--MACH/PART, MILLWRIGHT, STRUCK BY, LEADING EDGE

Investigated Inspection
#	Inspection	Age	Sex	Degree of Injury	Nature of Injury	Occupation
1	125385971			Non Hospitalized injury	Bruise/Contus/Abras	Industrial machinery repairers
2	125385971			Fatality	Concussion	Industrial machinery repairers

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