APRIL 23, 2015
ECORSE (WWJ/AP) – A Sterling Heights man has been
charged with manslaughter after authorities say he ran over a U.S. Steel
employee at the Great Lakes Works Cold Mill Shipping in Ecorse.
Miho Saljic, 48, was arraigned Wednesday in Ecorse
District Court. He’s free on a $20,000 personal bond, with the condition he
wear a tether.
Investigators say Saljic was backing up a semi-truck loaded
with steel coils when he fatally struck 41-year-old Heather Warren last
Saturday. Warren was apparently directing trucks in the facility’s loading
area when she was struck by Saljic, who was not using a spotter. Saljic was
into custody at the scene.
Saljic is a driver for ALCO Transportation. No one
answered the company’s phone after business hours Wednesday, and a person who
answered Saljic’s home phone hung up when asked for comment.
If convicted as charged, Saljic faces up to 15 years in
prison. He’s due back in court for a probable-cause hearing May 5.
Based on facts available to date, driver had to backup
because this bay doesn't have door on the other side. According to eye
witnesses he was told it was clear to go. She was wearing headphones at the
time and no safety west. Coworkers were screaming at her to move but she didnt
hear them. It's a tragic accident because of lack of safety rules at U.S.
steel. I don't see driver's fault here at all.
The fact is that there are two truck doors for that building
and one has been out of service for over a year which means that for the two
loading bays to get used the drivers are instructed to use the same door, the
exit door was blocked so the only way for trucks to get out of the building
after being loaded was to back out.
The driver did not back out of his own
accord, the drivers are told when to back out, but in most cases that the
drivers have to back out (instead of pulling through like normal operation)
they are told to and the person that tells them to remains by the front of the
truck, I've never seen an employee in traffic or shipping walk behind a truck
after instructing the driver to back out...this was a case of someone filling
in a job they did not know how to safely perform and a tragic accident is the
result.
//-------------------------//
US STEEL WORKER DIES IN ACCIDENT AT FACILITY
NEAR DETROIT
APRIL 20, 2015
ECORSE, MICH. (AP) – A semitrailer driver has been arrested
in a fatal trucking accident involving a U.S. Steel employee at the Great Lakes
Works Cold Mill Shipping near Detroit.
Forty-one-year-old Heather Warren of Inkster was killed
Saturday after she was struck by a semitrailer as it backed up at the facility
in Ecorse.
Warren’s sister says she was spotting a truck when she was
run over by another truck that didn’t have a spotter. She says Warren worked as
a shift supervisor and wasn’t trained to spot trucks.
Ecorse Police Cpl. Chris Trevino said Sunday that the
47-year-old driver is in custody. He said the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office
could file charges against the driver.
No further details were available. An investigation is
ongoing.
Source: http://detroit.cbslocal.com