Full details have not been released by OSHA for either case. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. Company fined after man dies from fall into pot of molten iron twice as hot as lava. The employee was attempting to retrieve a part from a machine. Lean Jinghui | April 06, 2021, 05:47 PM . Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said that no foul play is suspected, according to the Peoria Journal Star. "We implore employers to review the agency specific regulations to protect workers from falls into equipment in industrial settings.". An OSHA investigation found "the foundry routinely exposed employees to unprotected fall hazards" while they worked within 4 feet of containers of molten iron. A 39-year-old employee on their ninth day of work at a Caterpillar foundry in Illinois fell into a melting pot of iron "and was immediately incinerated," authorities said. He fell onto a concrete floor. has received a violation and faces $145,027 worth in fines. While the new worker was on his probationary period for training, he was fired for reporting a part that fell out of a fixture, causing him a minor injury. The fatal accident occurred at a meat processing plant when 41-year-old cleaner Hugo Avalos Chanon fell into a running meat blender while cleaning it. {Read More: The death of Steven Dierkes: A victim of Americas industrial slaughterhouse}, Steven Dierkes lived down the street from me when we were kids, said Jermaine Pigee, who mourned his friends death in a social media post. The chair rolled out from underneath the employee. Tell us what conditions are like in your workplace. Share your story ideas and important issues with Caleb by emailing caleb.fernandez@kgun9.com or by connecting on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. Four thousand pounds of molten steel poured into an open pit after the lid blew off a caster at the foundry Wednesday at 5 p.m. This was told to the union official down at that particular place of employment. In 2013, a line at our foundry was eliminated. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US . It didnt go away, but the work being done by UAW-represented people did. Man falls into 720C molten aluminium furnace but survives after pulling himself out The 25-year-old Swiss man suffered extensive burns but survived to tell the tale. -Caleb Fernndez is a digital content producer for KGUN 9. A 25-year-old electrician had a serious brush with death after falling into a 720 C vat of molten aluminium. The facility ships an average of 150,000 tons of finished product each year.. The employee who died was a melting specialist who was removing a sample of iron from a furnace when he fell into the melting pot. "A worker's life could have been spared if Caterpillar had made sure required safety protections were in place, a fact that only adds to this tragedy," expressed OSHA Regional Administrator Bill Donovan in Chicago. THIS IS the horrifying moment a desperate factory worker jumped into a super-heated 900C steel furnace after allegedly losing 6,000 on the stock market. The employee removed the guards and laid on the rollers then saw the broken chain and pulled out with his hands and counted the links on the damaged chain. 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All comments will be published anonymously. He died instantly, but not all of him went in. We were into professional wrestling, so every Friday night, wed get together with friends and wed try wrestling moves on each other. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Users of Chinas social media platform Weibo expressed their sadness about Wangs death. Ron said of Adams death that he was surprised one of the local stations actually had the audacity to point out the death of a contractor only last December in our facility. A Caterpillar spokesperson said in a statement toCBS News: "Our thoughts remain with this employee's family, friends and colleagues. What are we going to do? He was fired for not letting the part fall., Mitchell reported that since Caterpillar eliminated a line at the foundry in 2013, the company made the conditions even more dangerous. Steve Dierkes, a 39-year-old employee and melting specialist at a Caterpillar foundry which produces cast iron engine components in Mapleton, Illinois, was "immediately incinerated" after falling into the huge tub of molten iron that was heated to approximately twice the temperature of volcanic lava on June 2 earlier this year. A HERO blast furnace worker who rescued colleagues in the 2001 explosion at the Port Talbot steelworks died from burns after falling into a molten slag channel at the plant five . Dierkes death remains under investigation by the Peoria County Coroners office, the Sheriffs Office, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. He is remembered as a hard-working teddy bear of a man with calloused hands and a tender heart.. On June 2, a 39-year-old melting specialist who had been on the job for only nine days was removing a sample of iron from a furnace at a foundry in Mapleton, Illinois when he fell into a. He and his family are in all of our thoughts and prayers. The death of the worker has gone unacknowledged by the UAW International so far. Another worker, who identified himself as Ron, said the death occurred on one of the large melters in the main foundry melting area. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The BBC's Joe Campbell reports: Alan Wardour, of Higham, Kent, suffered 100% burns when he fell into the vat containing molten metal heated to 400C. A disturbing surveillance video allegedly showing a man jumping into a blast furnace and taking his own life has shocked Chinese internet users. After earning his bachelor's degree from Penn State in Advertising/Public Relations, Caleb went to New York where he learned production assistance, photography and art direction. Part of his body remained on the deck for the coroner to retrieve. Last December, Scott Adams of East Peoria fell to his death. A 39-year-old worker died after falling into a molten iron vat of 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit molten - leaving half of his body lying on the floor. Federal safety regulations require employers to install guardrails and restraint systems to protect workers from falls into dangerous equipment like Dierkes suffered. The incident occurred at Caterpillar's foundry in Mapleton, Illinois on June 2, 2022. MAPLETON, Ill. Caterpillar Inc. is facing proposed fines of more than $145,000 after a federal investigation concluded that the construction-equipment manufacturer failed to install necessary. Steven Dierkes, of Peoria, Illinois, was. Steve Mitchell, the UAWs safety chairman for the plant, admitted to a panel of investigators that the company fired workers who reported safety issues, while fecklessly stating, Im not here to speak badly about Caterpillar., In recent years at my local, Mitchell stated then, weve filed 53 11(c) complaints [whistleblower complaints under the section 11(c) of the OSHA act of 1970], and we havent had one complaint thats come in our favor. He added that people who made these complaints were disciplined or discharged and they expressed to [him] that they wish theyd never reported their injuries, and thats a sad state of affairs when you consider that your worst day at work of getting hurt just got made worse by potentially losing your job., Mitchell detailed horrific stories of workers who got fired as well. The UAW has done nothing to stop the increasing safety hazards happening, as the repeat violations and injuries at the facility reveal. Anobituary for Dierkes, via PJ Star, notes the worker passed away at 9:23 a.m. from a workplace accident.. Jan. 18, 1982 Man jumps into molten steel; officials rule suicide PITTSBURGH -- Company officials say a worker committed suicide by jumping into a ladle of molten steel but his family. Dierkes death was the third in 30 years since Ron had started working there. Dierkes was only on the ninth day of his new job when he died. Word spread fast and people were gathering trying to find out what happened. Another worker noted in a social media post that Steven hadonly been there for 5 days and he should not have been on the iron floor without sufficient training. In 1998, A man named Allen Wardle survived for six hours after falling 20ft into a 450C vat of molten zinc at a factory in Essex. The crane began moving and struck the employee. Following Adams incident, Caterpillar released a statement toNBC Chicagosaying an investigation was underway and the company was deeply saddened., The company said: Our thoughts are with the workers family, friends and colleagues., The Mapleton Foundry is described onCaterpillars websiteas one of the largest in the United States., Caterpillar explains: It can melt up to 1,000 tons of iron each day to produce finished castings ranging from 15lb liners to 22,000lb cylinder blocks.. An Illinois foundry worker died following an accidental fall into 1,400-degrees Celsius molten iron crucible, which burned half of his body. Another employee claimed on social media that Dierkes had only been there for five days and didnt have sufficient training to be on the iron floor, according to WSWS. Caterpillar workers: We want to hear from you. 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