Fatal Injury in a Steel Mill

A construction worker was killed in the melt shop of a steel mill in Kentucky. This consultant acted as an expert in steel mill and electrical arc furnace operations and was working for the plaintiff widow of the decedent. The decedent was a welder who was welding on one of the arms of an electric arc furnace. The furnace was shut down for maintenance. A remote signal caused the stored hydraulic energy stored in some hydraulic accumulators to cause the arms to be raised. One of the arms fell on him and he died. Analysis and reconstruction of the accident was based on the depositions, a site visit and studies of drawings, codes, standards and practices. The reconstruction showed that the decedent was neither trained properly nor supervised properly to do the job. He had been trained using the section of OSHA rules (29CFR1926 for construction) that did not prepare him properly for the job that he was asked to do. The section that he should have been trained under is 29CFR1910 (for Occupational Safety and Health). Also, he was essentially acting as a "temporary" employee since his direct supervisor was not his employer's foreman, but an employee of the general contractor. Thus the person that did supervise him expected that he would be more knowledgeable than he was. Furthermore, this consultant showed that many other persons in the operation had made significant mistakes concerning lockout-tagout procedures. The widow, who was our client, was successful in her lawsuit based partially on this consultant's written opinion and deposition.

To see the resume of the expert associated with this case study, see the link below.