EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) — A steelworker was crushed to death in an accident at ArcelorMittal’s Indiana Harbor plant.

United Steelworkers District 7 Director Jim Robinson says 55-year-old James Wingfield of Munster died after he was crushed by a tundish cover at an oxygen furnace. A tundish distributes molten steel from the ladle into the mold in the caster.

Wingfield was a mechanic at the steel mill at East Chicago.

Company spokesman David Allen says a joint management-union safety investigation began immediately after the accident that occurred about 10 a.m. Monday.

The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration also is investigating the accident.

It’s the second fatality at the plant this year.

Posted 3/25/2008