Worker dies following incident at Stelco’s Lake Erie Works
One of the workers injured in an incident at Stelco's Lake Erie Works last month has died.
Two employees of Hamilton-based John Kenyon Limited were airlifted to hospital with severe burns after they were injured while working at the Nanticoke steelworks on April 25.
The Ministry of Labour confirmed to The Spectator it was notified May 16 that one of the employees had died of their injuries.
Our thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of this worker," wrote ministry spokesperson Anuradha Dhar, in an email.
When reached by The Spectator Wednesday morning, a staff member at John Kenyon declined to comment. The Spectator has reached out to Stelco for comment and is awaiting a response.
According to a ministry report obtained by The Sachem, the workers were on a boom lift replacing sheet metal on the side of the coke oven quench tower when they were burned by hot steam from a coke quench - a cooling process that cannot be stopped remotely once started.
An air horn used to alert workers to a quench was removed by the ministry for inspection, and two requirements and two orders were issued to John Kenyon in the hours and days following the investigation, The Sachem reported.
John Kenyon is a Hamilton metal wall cladding and roofing company that serves the industrial and commercial sectors.
In the report, the ministry requested several documents, including a contractor briefing from Stelco to John Kenyon, training records, documents outlining a timeline of the process and the WSIB Form 7 for the injured workers.
Dhar told The Spectator that as of Wednesday, two orders and four requirements had been issued to John Kenyon in the wake of the incident, while two orders have been issued to Stelco.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Kate McCullough is an education reporter at The Spectator. kmccullough@thespec.com
Fallon Hewitt is a reporter at The Spectator. fhewitt@thespec.com