Worker Dies At Chrysler Wastewater Plant

A worker died while performing maintenance at a wastewater facility on May 5.

Wastewater operator Donald Megge of Sterling Heights, MI, was caught in a machine at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ Jefferson North Assembly Plant, the Associated Press reported. Megge was "performing maintenance on a wastewater filter press in the plant’s onsite wastewater treatment facility when the accident occurred," the Detroit News reported. He was 53.

A United Automobile Workers official put out this statement: "Megge, a millwright and wastewater operator, died while he was performing regular preventative maintenance during a shift that started at 5:30 a.m. He was working alone and discovered at about 6:30 a.m. [on May 5]. The incident remains under investigation by state and federal health and safety officials, and union and company health and safety professionals.”

“The company is currently working with local officials to investigate the incident,” Jodi Tinson, a Fiat Chrysler spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement, per Bloomberg.

Water and wastewater operators are sometimes at risk on the job, but perhaps less-so than they have been historically. "Fatal workplace accidents have declined in the past decade, said Kristin Dziczek, director of the Industry & Labor Group at the Center for Automotive Research. In 2013, 312 people died in U.S. manufacturing, including three in auto factories and six in part-supplier plants, she said, citing Labor Department data. About 4,600 people died on the job in the U.S., compared with 5,600 a decade ago, she said," according to Bloomberg.

Dziczek said in the report: “One is too many, but this has been improving over time.”

For more on worker safety, visit Water Online's Labor Solution Center.