2014 MIOSHA Fatality Information

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.

FATALITY NUMBER	DATE	OCCUPATION	AGE	TYPE OF INCIDENT	DESCRIPTION	INCIDENT LOCATION (CITY)
1.	01/24/14	Operation Employee	30	Suffocation	An employee was working at a grain storage terminal loading a railroad car from atop when he fell through the hatch and into soybeans being loaded. The employee died of possible suffocation in the soybeans.	White Pigeon
2.	01/24/14	Refrigeration Technician	51	Fall	An employee was using a ladder to access the top of a building for purposes of repairing a condensing unit when he apparently fell from the ladder.	Grand Rapids
3.	01/29/14	Truck Driver	23	Crush	An employee entered company yard at 1:36 am to pick up a trailer. He was found at 4:45 am pinned between two trailers. It appeared that the employee was rolling up the dollies on the trailer and the truck rolled back crushing the employee between the trailer he was picking up and a trailer setting next to the one he was picking up.	Detroit
4.	02/12/14	Roofer	26	Fall	The company was re-roofing a home and the employee fell approximately 30 feet to the ground. He was taken to the hospital and later passed away from his injuries.	Farmington Hills
5.	02/11/14	Direct Care Worker	71	Blunt Traumatic Head Injury	A 71-year-old direct care worker in a group home was slapped in the face by a resident and she fell back onto a bed. On February 9, 2014, she was found unconscious and was taken to the hospital. On February 11, 2014, she passed away, the death certificate lists the cause of death as blunt traumatic head injury.	Macomb
6.	03/04/14	Rider and Floor Tech	43	Crush	A rider and floor tech was in the back of a box truck providing guidance to the driver who was backing up to a semi-trailer they were going to transfer materials to. When the driver stopped and walked to the back of the box truck he observed the deceased pinned between the box truck and the semi-trailer.	Flint
7.	03/05/14	Material Handler	23	Caught Between / Struck by	The material handler went to the rear of the machine to adjust a cardboard catch tray as instructed by operator/supervisor who was located at the front of the plastic injection mold machine. The material handler opened the rear door which had the interlock defeated with a shop towel. The material handler leaned in to access the catch tray. The operator/supervisor at the front of the machine closed the operator door which cycled the machine. The material handler was caught between and crushed by the closing of the mold.	Shelby Township
8.	03/06/14	Farm Hand	42	Mauled	A farm hand was moving approximately 60 cows from a pen where they eat and drink during the day to a barn for milking. A bull that was allowed to routinely mix with the cows, attacked and mauled the farm hand, resulting in their death.	Hastings
9.	03/17/14	Tire Repair Technician	37	Crush	A tire repair technician responded to an after-hours repair of a semi-truck tire and was crushed when the technician released a bottle jack that was holding up the cab.	Grand Rapids
10.	04/04/14	Crane Operator	36	Struck by	A crane was lifting a section of duct. The crane began to tip forward and its counterweights dislodged and struck the 36-year-old operator.	Ecorse
11.	04/16/14	Laborer	58	Fall	A laborer was disassembling and removing equipment from a grain elevator when he fell 60 feet from a catwalk.	Ruth
12.	05/10/14	Sanitation Worker	49	Caught Between	A sanitation worker was cleaning pieces of conveying equipment where the conveyor belt had been removed. The sanitation worker's gloved right hand was caught in a plastic drive gear causing him to become entangled in the equipment. The sanitation worker was found approximately 45 minutes later entangled in the equipment.	Zeeland
13.	05/04/14	General Laborer	29	Caught Between	A 29-year-old employee was working on a metal shaft that was in a lathe, the employee's shirt became entangled when he walked around the end of the lathe close to the shaft being worked on. EMS was called and the employee was transferred to the hospital where he died on May 4, 2014 from the injuries sustained on April 21, 2014. MIOSHA was informed of this fatality on May 28, 2014.	Clare
14.	06/02/14	Warehouse Employee	31	Struck by	A 31-year-old warehouse employee was loading steel pipes on to a trailer using an overhead crane. During the loading process, the load may have shifted striking the worker.	Saginaw
15.	06/13/14	Owner	46	Struck by	A 46-year-old employee was killed when a section of a tree he was cutting fell and struck him in the head. The tree being cut had a rotted center and split into several pieces upon hitting other trees during its fall.	Whitehall
16.	06/16/14	Overhead Lineman	54	Electrocution	A 54-year-old overhead lineman received an electric shock while replacing a pole top transformer. The employee passed away on June 16th due to injuries sustained from the electric shock on June 14th.	Carleton
17.	06/23/14	Barn Maintenance	44	Struck by	A 44-year-old barn maintenance employee was working on a tine rake tire, trying to seat the tire by using a hammer. The tire exploded causing the rim and tire to be propelled into the employee's chest.	Deford
18.	06/27/14	Die Setter/Tech	34	Crushed	A 34-year-old die setter was crushed when an operator of a horizontal plastic injection mold press started the machine without knowing that the die setter was inside the machine. The machine was set to automatically cycle when started.	Grand Rapids
19.	07/01/14	Owner	73	Electrocution	A 73-year-old employee/owner of an electrical contracting company was on a 6 foot ladder performing electrical work at a nursing home when he contacted electrical power lines causing him to fall and suffer rib and chest trauma in addition to electrical injuries. The employee/owner passed away from his injuries at 4:43 a.m. on July 1, 2014.	Redford
20.	07/21/14	Farm Worker	46	Crushed	A 46-year-old employee, the operator of the bull dozer, was standing on top of the front blade with another employee standing on the fender. The two were attempting to hang tarps on the side of a barn when the dozer moved ahead causing the deceased to lose his balance and fall to the ground where he was run over.	Alma
21.	08/25/14	Shot Blast Operator	60	Crushed	A 60-year-old shot blast operator was operating a shot blast machine with fabricated metal guards placed around the front of the machine. The guards were there because they were running a part in the shot blaster that was so large the doors could not be closed. These guards weighed approximately 632 pounds each and there were a total of two guards. The operator had climbed underneath the guards and bumped them causing the guards to fall onto the employee crushing him.	Jackson
22.	07/19/14	Owner	55	Electrocution	A 55-year-old employee/owner was in the process of cleaning a frozen custard machine (the back panel of the machine had been removed) when he was electrocuted.	St. Clair Shores
23.	09/03/14	Truck Driver	51	Electrocution	A 51-year-old truck driver hit a power line with a trailer when his boom went up. It burnt up the trailer and caused the fatality. They are investigating the incident.	Clinton Township
24.	09/05/14	Ramper	24	Struck by	A 24-year-old ramper was loading and unloading baggage from an aircraft when he was struck by a belt loader vehicle that pinned him against the aircraft.	Detroit
25.	09/08/14	Assistant District Foreman	42	Crushed	A 42-year-old assistant district foreman was working on a road construction project when he was run over by a piece of construction equipment.	Caledonia
26.	10/20/14	Bartender	48	Carbon Dioxide Exposure	A 48-year-old bartender went into the basement after closing the bar where she was allegedly overcome by leaking carbon dioxide. She was found unresponsive at 7:00 a.m. EMS was called, and she was taken to the hospital where she died on October 20th.	Northville Township
27.	10/07/14	Owner	61	Fall	A 61-year-old employee/owner was in a lift device between two trees and made contact with a branch and got stuck. The branch let loose and shook the boom throwing him from the bucket approximately 45-50 feet to the ground.	Port Austin
28.	10/23/14	Farmer	33	Crushed	A 33-year-old farmer was crushed by a combine while trying to dislodge a stone.	Owosso
29.	10/24/14	Foreman	47	Struck by	A 47-year-old foreman was flagging traffic for a tree-trimming operation when a vehicle entered the work zone and struck the foreman. He died of his injuries on October 24th.	Wyoming
30.	10/29/14	Owner	59	Crushed	A 59-year-old employee/owner was performing work in an excavation, approximately 18-feet deep, and was crushed when the sides caved in. MIFACE Investigation Report	Grosse Pointe Woods
31.	11/01/14	Truck Driver	54	Crushed	A 54-year-old truck driver was standing on the passenger side of a semi-tractor between the cab and the rear double set of tires at the back of the tractor. When the other truck driver pulled the tractor forward, he did not see the deceased and accidently ran over him.	Coopersville
32.	11/04/14	Assembler	34	Struck by	A prototype fuel tank was being pressure tested. It failed the pressure test and exploded. A 34-year-old assembler was killed and two other company employees were injured and hospitalized. A customer was also injured and hospitalized.	Lapeer
33.	11/17/14	Truck Driver	52	Caught Between / Struck by	A 52-year-old sugar beet truck driver was found lying in the field. It appears he was struck-by or caught-between equipment during loading operations.	Deckerville
34.	10/14/14	Laborer	37	Fall	A 37-year-old laborer was assisting a coworker to install a chimney liner at a private residence. The coworker left the laborer who was on an extension ladder to go to the basement and receive the liner as it was inserted. Upon hearing a loud noise, the coworker left the basement to investigate and found the laborer lying on the ground. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on October 28th. This incident was reported by a family member on November 21st.	Detroit
35.	10/15/14	Supervisor	48	Drowned	A 48-year-old supervisor was operating a boat with two other employees, heading back after taking down camp sites. Waves hit the boat and began filling it sending all three of the employees into the water. All of the employees had life jackets on, two of them made it to shore, the supervisor did not.	Mountain Lake
36.	12/04/14	Engineering Technician	21	Struck by	A 21-year-old engineering technician was struck by a motorist while performing work in the roadway.	Bad Axe
37.	12/10/14	Roofer	51	Fall	A 51-year-old roofer was installing insulation on the roof of a newly constructed pole barn when he fell approximately 20 feet to the concrete floor below.	Lupton

There were 28 MIOSHA-related deaths in 2013. 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.

Every life is precious. Our mutual goal must be that every employee goes home at the end of every shift unharmed.

Popular on michigan.gov

How Do I...

2014 MIOSHA Fatality Information

FATALITY NUMBER

DATE

OCCUPATION

AGE

TYPE OF INCIDENT

DESCRIPTION

INCIDENT LOCATION (CITY)