State clears Severstal of responsibility for steelworker’s fatal fall
by MARK REUTTER
The Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MOSH) found that no safety standards were violated at Severstal Sparrows Point in a fatal fall that killed a 60-year-old steelworker in February.
A banana peel found by employees in Vance A. Dickson’s hand led the agency to support Severstal’s contention that Dickson’s fall from the cab of a coil transporter on February 14 was caused by human error. MOSH theorized that Dickson slipped while holding the banana peel and fell backwards on his head.
One issue had been the role played by a movable stairs with irregular handrails, which stood between the cab and concrete floor where Dickson was found bleeding profusely.
Photographs taken at the accident scene – obtained by The Brew through a Maryland Public Information Act request – show that one of the two handrails appears to be bent at such an angle as to be impossible to grab.
Unless movable stairs are 30 inches above the floor and have four risers, there is no legal requirement to provide handrails, MOSH spokesman Bernie Kohn said yesterday. The stairs at the Dickson accident scene had three risers and measured 29½ inches above the floor, thus Severstal did not have to provide any handrails, Kohn said.
Severstal spokesperson Bette Kovach said the company had no comment on the accident investigation or movable platform or other questions raised by The Brew.
The right handrail, which should be horizontal, is bent down on a steep angle to the base of the platform, making it difficult to grab. The top metal step is also bent.
Another mobile platform at the repair shop with both handrails properly made and with a mechanism at base of lower step to lock unit in place.
Safety Practices Questioned
When Bethlehem Steel owned Sparrows Point, it was standard practice to “red-tag” and replace movable stairs with defective handrails, according to a source with direct knowledge of mill operations.
“The unwritten rule was you don’t keep around damaged equipment like roll-around stairs cause you could run afoul of OSHA rules,” he said.
Pointing to the sagging platform, bent struts and generally battered condition of the movable stairs photographed by MOSH, the source said, “This thing looks like it was hit by a forklift and some apprentice welder tried to jerry rig it back together.”
He added, “Things have changed under the new management. Every department can pretty much do what it wants to now, and lots of operations are contracted out.”
The Dickson fatality took place at a repair facility subcontracted by Severstal to Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals. Dickson was a Severstal employee, but the mechanics in the shop work for Kinder Morgan.
Employee Heard Sound of Stairs Moving
The MOSH report said that there were no eyewitnesses to Dickson’s fall. A Kinder Morgan employee, however, is quoted in the report saying he heard “a sound like the mobile stairs moving on the concrete floor.”
Running to the side of the coil transporter, he found “Dickson lying on the concrete floor” close to the movable stairs. He was moaning as a thick pool of blood formed around his head.
Dickson was transported to the shock trauma unit of University of Maryland Hospital, where he was pronounced dead early the next morning.
Because the family declined an autopsy, it was “not possible to determine whether a medical issue occurred that caused him to lose his grip and fall or if any drugs were in his system,” wrote MOSH inspector Harry Veditz.
Severstal and Kinder Morgan were not cited for safety violations for several reasons, according to Veditz.
These included that the company had procedures in place for a safe way to climb up and down ladders, employees were expected to keep three points of contact and employees should not be climbing with anything in their hands.
According to MOSH spokesman Kohn, “Our inspector found nothing in his investigation that leads him to believe that the movable stairs contributed to Mr. Dickson’s death.”
E-mails to Severstal’s safety director Timothy Tigue and Kinder Morgan supervisor Graham Morris asking whether the movable stairs is still in service were not answered.
Severstal Fined in 2008 Fatality
The accident was the second fatality since Severstal took ownership of the Sparrows Point mill two years ago. On September 3, 2008, Robert Fuchs was killed at the ore conveyor plant when he was struck by a boulder that drove him face first into a concrete wall.
The federal Occupational Health and Safety Agency (OSHA) fined Severstal $5,150 after finding rusted-out and missing sections of guardrail near the conveyor.
The agency later reduced the fine to $2,575 as part of an “informal settlement” with Severstal Sparrows Point.
Dickson was a 32-year veteran of the mill and was well liked by his fellow employees.