Use the information in this table to build hazard awareness and prevent risk for similar occurrences in your workplace. This table shares preliminary details
about many of the fatalities reported to the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration. These descriptions reflect information provided to
MIOSHA at the initial report of the incident and are not the result of the official MIOSHA investigation.
When available, MIFACE Summaries of MIOSHA Inspections will be included at the end of the description.
| 2021 | ||||||
Fatality Number |
Date |
Occupation |
Age |
Type of Injury |
Description |
Incident Location (City) |
| 1. | 01/13/21 | Flagger | 56 | Struck by | A driver did not stop for the work zone and pinned a 56-year-old flagger between two vehicles. | Bates Township |
| 2. | 01/21/21 | Drilling Hand | 31 | Struck by | A firm was onsite to service a sticking well rod. A driver was backing the service truck to the well head to set up the equipment and derrick, that was being guided by two employees, when a 31-year-old drilling hand was struck and pinned between the service truck and the well head. |
New Era
|
| 3. | 04/06/21 | Owner | 42 | Struck by | A 42-year-old lawn care service company's owner was found pinned underneath the wheel of a dump truck. | Ypsilanti |
| 4. | 04/21/21 | General Help | 60 | Struck by | The 60-year-old general help employee was inflating a single rim trailer tire. The sidewall of the tire split open and pressure from the air inside the tire knocked him down. The employee hit his head on the concrete and became unconscious. He was taken to the hospital where he passed away on April 21, 2021. | Hamilton |
| 5. | 04/21/21 | Crane Operator | 57 | Struck by | The 57-year-old crane operator was staging a die onto the east bolster with a crane. The die was not aligned with the locating pins. While standing between the die and the press, the crane operator maneuvered the die onto the bolster pin. The misalignment of the hoist to the center point of the die caused the die to swing to the home position resulting in the die striking the crane operator. | Sterling Heights |
| 6. | 02/15/21 | Licensed Practical Nurse | 64 | Other | On Jan. 4, 2021, a positive test result was given to the 64-year-old licensed practical nurse during the firm's regular COVID testing, required twice a week. Following company policy, the employee was sent home, and the local health department was contacted. The week of approximately Jan. 18, the employee was hospitalized, and later passed away on Feb. 15, 2021. | Alpena |
| 7. | 03/15/21 | Office Administrator/Medical Assistant | 70 | Other | A 70-year-old office administrator/medical assistant worked at a physician's office. During the week of Feb 22, two employees were working in the office while sick. The following week they tested positive for COVID-19. The deceased tested positive on March 2 and was hospitalized within a couple days. The deceased passed away on March 15, 2021. | Monroe |
| 8. | 04/23/21 | Landscaping | 69 | Struck by | The 69-year-old landscaping employee was mowing lawn on a hill and flipped the lawn mower over a retaining wall. The employee was crushed by the mower. | Brighton |
| 9. | 05/17/21 | Owner | 40 | Fall (from elevation) | The 40-year-old owner was on an extension ladder and fell approximately 20 feet to the concrete surface below. | Caro |
| 10. | 06/11/21 | Truck Driver | 33 | Struck by | The 33-year-old truck driver was delivering building products to a residential home. At some point, he was struck by a vehicle. | Grand Rapids |
| 11. | 01/29/21 | Licensed Practical Nurse | 70 | Other | A 70-year-old licensed practical nurse was exposed to COVID-19 while working in the COVID-19 unit in a nursing home. The employee tested positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 10, 2020. The employee was hospitalized from Dec. 19, 2020, until Jan. 29, 2021, when she passed away. | Milford |
| 12. | 06/29/21 | Lineman | 61 | Shock | The 61-year-old lineman was performing maintenance to electrical service and was found unresponsive by the homeowner. | Detroit |
| 13. | 07/09/21 | Laborer | 64 | Struck against | Employees were unloading a crane when it tipped over, pinning and crushing the 64-year-old laborer. | Grand Rapids |
| 14. | 07/16/21 | Electrician | 50 | Fall (from elevation) | The 50-year-old electrician accessed a platform adjacent to a crane runway. The platform did not have handrails, it had a horizontal lifeline. The victim was walking along this platform without the use of fall protection when he fell approximately 50 feet below onto piping and other structures. | Dearborn |
| 15. | 07/21/21 | Maintenance Technician | 66 | Struck by | On July 21, a 66-year-old maintenance technician was working on a wheelabrator shot blast machine when he was fatality crushed between the tumbler door and machine wheel housing. | Pontiac |
| 16. | 08/05/21 | Grinder Operator | 59 | Severe Burn | A 59-year-old grinder operator was operating an industrial tub grinder when a fire developed on the equipment. The employee did not make it out of the cab of the equipment and he was fatally injured by the fire. | Carney |
| 17. | 08/09/21 | Truck Driver | 58 | Struck by | The 58-year-old truck driver was standing on the bed of a flatbed semi-trailer, releasing the straps that secure the bundles of steel during transport. After removing a strap, the bundle shifted, and the employee fell off the trailer and onto the adjacent ground. The bundle of steel fell from the trailer and onto the employee crushing him. | Jackson |
| 18. | 08/16/21 | Truck Driver | 70 | Caught in or between | The 70-year-old truck driver was making a delivery at a customer's location and was caught between his trailer and another trailer. | Three Rivers |
| 19. | 08/16/21 | Owner | 50 | Fall (from elevation) | The 50-year-old business owner was trimming tree limbs when the boom of the aerial work platform failed, dropping him and the bucket approximately 40 feet to a concrete pad below. | Douglas |
| 20. | 08/14/21 | Climber | 25 | Struck by | The 25-year-old climber was driving a loader and was loading a tree into a truck. The back tire of the loader came off the curb and the driver was not wearing a seatbelt. The driver was crushed under a steel cage. | Ada |
| 21. | 08/17/21 | Laborer | 19 | Caught in or between | A 19-year-old laborer was performing landscaping tasks, using a Bobcat equipped with a bucket to remove fence paneling. While removing the panels, one of the panels became entangled in chicken wire. The laborer attempted to untangle the chicken wire from the fence paneling while remaining partially inside the Bobcat. As he raised the bucket, he became pinched in between the mast and cab of the Bobcat. Emergency personnel arrived on scene and transported him to a nearby hospital via helicopter, where he later passed away. | Romulus |
| 22. | 08/24/21 | Sand and Gravel Pit Manager | 46 | Struck by | A 46-year-old sand and gravel pit manager was moving material around in a parking lot with a bulldozer. He exited the bulldozer and the machine began to move. As he attempted to stop the machine, he was fatally struck by it. | Shepherd |
| 23. | 08/19/21 | Millwright | 27 | Shock | On Aug. 17, two employees were working from an aerial lift when one of them came into contact with a high voltage power line. The 27-year-old millwright was taken to the hospital where he passed away two days later. | Marshall |
| 24. | 08/27/21 | Laborer | 35 | Struck by | A 35-year-old laborer was driving an aerial lift across the westbound lanes of I-94 when he was struck by a semi-truck. | Paw Paw |
| 25. | 04/02/21 | General Laborer | 54 | Other | A 54-year-old general laborer worked in a repackaging area of a warehouse. 911 was called when the employee collapsed on March 11. The employer was informed by the hospital that the employee had tested positive for COVID-19. The employee passed away on April 2, 2021 due to COVID-19. | Melvindale |
| 26. | 08/31/21 | Superintendent | 49 | Struck by | A subcontractor was performing work on a dam using a barge-mounted crane on the river. The crane fell over, striking the 49-year-old superintendent who was on land. | Crystal Falls |
| 27. | 09/01/21 | Laborer | 40 | Struck by | A 40-year-old laborer was standing on the right side of a wood chipper near the controls when a loud bang occurred. Three other employees who were onsite responded to the sound, where they found the employee with fatal head injuries. | Lake Ann |
| 28. | 09/08/21 | Lineman | 38 | Electrocution | A 38-year-old lineman was hoisting a primary power line up to splice a line while in the bucket of a bucket truck. A coworker could not see the lineman and called out to him. When there was no response, the coworker lowered the bucket and found the lineman unresponsive. | Baldwin |
| 29. | 03/18/21 | Machine Operator | 35 | Other | The employee's place of employment had been experiencing a large COVID-19 outbreak since March 5. The 35-year-old machine operator was discovered dead in his home on March 18, 2021, and the cause of death was determined to be respiratory failure due to COVID-19 infection. | Howell |
| 30. | 09/27/21 | Truck Driver | 37 | Struck by | A 37-year-old truck driver parked and exited their truck and flatbed trailer that was to be loaded with shipping containers from a crane. During the loading operation, the employee was struck by the crane and sustained fatal injuries. | Detroit |
| 31. | 09/07/21 | Supervisor | 47 | Other | A 47-year-old supervisor was using dry ice blasting to clean out a plastic injection mold. Another employee found him collapsed and CPR was performed until EMS arrived. The employee passed away that night. Per the medical examiner, the employee may have passed away from electrocution. | Grand Rapids |
| 32. | 10/17/21 | Splicer Specialist Leader | 40 | Shock | A 40-year-old splicer specialist leader was responding to a customer service call. He entered an excavation site to inspect and troubleshoot a 13,000-volt cable. It is believed that the employee contacted the electrical cable at some point and was electrocuted. | Milford |
| 33. | 10/18/21 | Ground Laborer | 45 | Caught in or between | A 45-year-old ground laborer was feeding tree branches into a woodchipper when he was pulled into the rotor blades of the chipper resulting in fatal injuries. | West Bloomfield |
| 34. | 11/05/21 | Traffic Regulator | 47 | Struck by | Two cars were stopped at a construction site. A semi-truck crashed into the stopped cars and struck the 47-year-old traffic regulator. | Oscoda |
| 35. | 11/10/21 | Laborer | 37 | Struck by | A 37-year-old laborer was struck by a forklift as it was backing up. | Ann Arbor |
| 36. | 11/12/21 | Owner | 58 | Fall (from elevation) | A 58-year-old business owner fell 25-30 feet from a roof. | Detroit |
| 37. | 11/24/21 | Set-up Technician | 37 | Caught in or between | A 37-year-old set-up technician was making a sensor adjustment on a plastic welding machine. The employee reached through an open access door that was supposedly interlocked to make an adjustment causing the machine to cycle, crushing the employee. | Kentwood |
| 38. | 01/09/21 | Corrections Officer | 45 | Other | On Dec. 30, 2020, a 45-year-old corrections officer tested positive for COVID-19 while undergoing routine testing. The employee, who was asymptomatic, immediately began an in-home quarantine and on Jan. 9, 2021, was discovered dead in his residence. An autopsy subsequently determined the cause of death to be acute pneumonia with infection to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) as one of several underlying causes. | Ionia |
| 39. | 09/14/21 | Sales Branch Manager | 61 | Other | The 61-year-old sales branch manager tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 28, was admitted to hospital on Sept. 5, and succumbed to complications from COVID-19 on Sept. 14, 2021. | Jackson |
| 40. | 10/11/21 | Lead Operator | 39 | Other | A 39-year-old lead operator began to experience COVID symptoms on Sept. 30 and began self-quarantining. He notified the employer regarding his positive COVID test on Oct. 6. He was hospitalized on Oct. 9 and passed away on Oct. 11, 2021, from respiratory failure due to COVID-19 infection. | Marcellus |
| 41. | 08/14/21 | Owner/Operator | 43 | Struck by | A 43-year-old owner/operator was found unresponsive with a 4x6’ pallet laying on top of him. Emergency services were called, and first responders were unable to revive him. | Traverse City |
There were 74 MIOSHA-related deaths in 2020. 2009 saw the lowest number with 24.
If you need help or assistance in ensuring your workplace is safe, MIOSHA is here with resources to help. The Consultation Education
and Training (CET) Division provides workplace safety and health training and consultations to employers and employees throughout
Michigan free of charge. Contact CET today at 800-866-4674 or submit a request online at www.michigan.gov/cetrca.
Every life is precious. Our mutual goal must be that every employee goes home at the end of their shift every day!