MIOSH Urges Review of Workplace Safety Practices
- The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration is urging employers and workers to take proactive safety steps after the state recorded 21 workplace fatalities so far in 2026, including three trench collapses within a two-day period, one of which killed a worker on July 1.
- Director Bart Pickelman said employers must make hazard recognition part of every job, provide proper training and protections, and build a culture where workers feel empowered to speak up and stop work when conditions are unsafe.
- The agency recommends employers assess and reassess hazards as conditions change, provide task-specific training, maintain clear communication among workers and contractors, and halt work when protections aren’t in place.
- Workers have the right to report unsafe conditions without retaliation, can request anonymity when filing a complaint, and employers can request free, confidential on-site consultations through the agency’s Consultation Education and Training Division without waiting for an inspection or incident.
OSHA Investigating Death During Demolition Project
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death of Andrew J. Bengel, 56, of Waterford, Pennsylvania, alongside Alton police and the Madison County Coroner’s Office, after a crane hook snapped and struck him with a heavy chain during demolition work at the shuttered Alton Steel mill on July 20.
- The Madison County Coroner’s Office said Bengel died of blunt trauma to the chest and abdomen; the findings are preliminary pending routine toxicology tests.
- Bengel was the owner of Bengel Excavating, which had recently taken on a scrap demolition job at the Alton, Illinois, mill, which announced its closure in late January, affecting more than 250 employees.
- The incident is unrelated to a separate July 13 death at U.S. Steel in Granite City, where Mitchael N. Nelson was electrocuted while trying to shut off a malfunctioning transformer.