State and union investigators continued their inquiry Thursday into the death of a Sparrows Point worker — an investigation expected to take several weeks.
Just hours after Robert Fuchs, 65, of Eastpoint, was crushed by falling debris while cleaning machinery at the Baltimore County plant, investigators had begun reconstructing the accident.
A United Steelworkers investigator was dispatched Wednesday from the union’s headquarters in Pittsburgh and was on-site that night, said Mike Wright, director of health, safety and environment for United Steelworkers. Another investigator from Maryland Occupational Safety and Health was also working the case, the state agency said.
Severstal International, the division of the Russian firm that owns Sparrows Point, pledged to start its own investigation.
“We take these things very seriously,” company spokesman Mel Baggett said. “No rock will go unturned.”
Six fatalities at iron and steel mills were reported nationwide last year, according to federal Department of Labor data released late last month.
In Maryland, 82 workers were killed on the job last year.
Fuchs was involved in cleanup efforts around a bulk-material handling system, which moves raw materials to the plant’s furnace, at about 10:15 a.m. Wednesday when he was crushed by falling debris, Baltimore County police said.
Both state and union officials said the length of their investigations depends on each case’s individual circumstances, but expected it would take at least several weeks to draw any initial conclusions.
There is a six-month time limit from the date of the accident for any citations to be issued by MOSH, the state agency said.
Though Fuchs was a United Steelworkers member, Wright said, the union investigates injuries or fatalities at union workplaces whether or not they directly involve union members, in hopes of protecting all workers.
“We in the union call ourselves brothers and sisters, but when something like this happens, everyone there is a brother or sister,” he said.
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