Feds prepare release of preliminary report on Lone Star death

WORKPLACE FATALITIES RISING

By Scott Moyers ~ Southeast Missourian

A federal investigation into the workplace death of Lone Star employee Robert St. Cin was in full swing Tuesday, with a preliminary report expected today that could shed some light on exactly what happened.

Investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration's Rolla office were atop the Cape Girardeau cement plant's tower Tuesday afternoon, examining the industrial motor that exploded and killed St. Cin, who had been a maintenance mechanic with Lone Star since 1990.

"We're real close to getting the preliminary report finished," said Rodney Brown, MSHA spokesman.

A full investigation and report is expected to be complete within the next 60 days, he said.

The preliminary report will include basic information about St. Cinand Lone Star as well as what witnesses say happened and possibly any obvious defects in the equipment, Brown said.

Lone Star spokeswoman Barbara Sinclair said the company doesn't have a preliminary finding and has no timeline set for finishing its own investigation.

"These things take time," she said. "We're not moving slow, though, out of respect for the family. What's going to bring them some peace of mind is knowing what happened. We also want to make sure the area is safe for our employees in the future."

She said that MSHA representatives so far have been the only ones allowed near the site of the incident.

A charred piece of metal sat at the base of the tower Tuesday, surrounded by yellow tape and a chalk circle.

Workers' fatalities rise

Workplace fatalities in Missouri rose in 2001 compared to the previous year, said Eden Dietle, an analyst with the census of fatal occupational injuries, a division of the state Department of Health.

In 2000, there were 148 work-related deaths, she said, and -- though the final numbers aren't official yet -- she knows more occurred in 2001.

"I believe it's going to be a higher number," Dietle said. "It may not be a large increase, but it's going to be more. Any number is more than we'd like to occur."

Dietle said she hasn't had a chance to analyze the numbers to see why they've gone up.

In most years, she said the top cause of people dying on the job is motor vehicle accidents, whether it's a truck driver, a road worker or a delivery person. In 2000, the most recent year for available figures, Missouri had 68 such incidents.

Thirty assaults and violent acts also reportedly happened to people on the job, such as a convenience store clerk getting killed during a robbery. Contact with objects -- getting caught in machinery, for example -- caused 19 deaths. Falls, which tend to be in the construction business, accounted for 15 deaths. There were eight electrocutions and eight other workers' deaths from fires and explosions in 2000, she said.

The information is tracked to determine what safety measures industries need, and also as an educational tool for people considering certain careers.

The week of June 10-14 is Work Safe Week in Missouri. The program, implemented by Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance, is aimed at raising awareness of workplace injuries.

Wes Brubaker, loss prevention manager at the insurance firm, noted that 80 percent of all workplace injuries are caused by unsafe acts while only 20 percent are caused by unsafe conditions.

"Most of these injuries are preventable," he said.

Brubaker said that employees and employers should form safety committees to find out what can be done to make work conditions more safe.

Lone Star Industries Inc., with its largest plant in Cape Girardeau, was purchased in 1999 by Dyckerhoff AG, a cement and building materials company headquartered in Germany. The local plant employs 190 people and has an annual payroll in excess of $8 million.

The Cape Girardeau plant produces more than 1.3 million tons of cement a year.

The making of cement at the plant, which towers above the landscape on South Sprigg Street, dates to 1909. Lone Star was founded in 1919. It also has operations in Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Indiana and Louisiana.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137