OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #980318
ELGIN JOLIET & EASTERN RAILROAD
GARY, IN·
Event description
Employee dies after burned by molten metal
Investigation abstract
At approximately 3:20 a.m. on March 5, 1989, Employee #1 was repairing rails on the B track underneath the south B spout of blast furnace #7 due to a previous s pill. As Employee #1 was repairing the tracks, the blast furnace began to cast h ot metal into a ladle on the A track. A dam made of sand, which had been built i n the trough for the south B spout, had erupted, allowing hot metal to run down into the area where Employee #1 was working. Employee #1 sustained burns over 80 percent of his body. He was taken by ambulance to Mercy Hospital and then by he licopter to the University of Chicago Hospital Burn Center. Employee #1 was in s table but critical condition, but died March 25, 1989.
Victims (2)
-
#1 Fatality Age 53 Male
- Nature of injury
- Burn/Scald(Heat) (5)
- Part of body
- MULTIPLE (19)
- Accident type
- STRUCK BY (1)
- Source of injury
- METAL PRODUCTS (28)
- Occupation
- Helpers, mechanics and repairers (864)
- Human factor
- MALFUNC IN SECURING/WARNING OP (4)
- Environmental factor
- OVERHEAD MOVING/FALLING OBJ AC (6)
- Hazardous substance
- 8880
- Task assigned
- Task not regularly assigned (2)
-
#981
Labels are OSHA's own, from the code dictionary published with the accident-investigation file. The raw code is shown beside each one so this page can be reconciled against OSHA's bulk data. OSHA notes that nature of injury, part of body, source of injury and accident type in this file are not coded to the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System, and that the occupation titles are not standardised — so these values are not directly comparable with the OIICS-coded severe injury reports.