Coroner's report details circumstances of WRCA worker's death

The Wire Rope Corp. of America worker killed in an industrial accident leaned onto a machine guard to get to an emergency shut-off, according to witness accounts contained in the coroner’s report.

The Pettis County coroner’s report obtained by The Democrat details the circumstances of the death of Robert Hursman, 31, of Warrensburg, who was killed at the Sedalia WRCA plant Jan. 22.

The report contains the accounts of six co-workers who witnessed the accident in which Hursman’s left arm was amputated. He died immediately of a massive head injury and severe loss of blood, according to the coroner’s findings.

Witnesses told Coroner Robert “Skip” Smith that Hursman had been welding wire on a machine labeled M-14.

A wire broke on a stranding machine labeled M-16, prompting Hursman to rush to shut it off. Hursman “ran over to the machine, jumping up laying across the machine to hit the shut-off switch,” according to Smith’s report. As he did that, “the safety guards gave way and he fell into the machine.”

Hursman’s co-worker, Chris Jones, was running the machine that killed Hursman. According to the report, Jones loaded a bobbin into his machine at the front end and went to get a drink of water. Hursman and Adam Grover, another worker, heard the wire break on Jones’ machine.

Hursman “took off running to shut off the machine by hitting the (emergency) stop on the operator’s side, leaning over from the back of the machine with his weight on the guard, and his body weight pushed into the tube, pushing the guard back under the tube,” according to a witness that was not identified by name in the coroner’s report.

Witness Mark D. Blankenship said it looked as if Hursman had “reached over the machine and was caught by the rotating tube.”
Smith wrote in his narrative: “I was informed by co-workers that they often have meetings that strictly forbid this practice.”

When the Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the plant after Hursman’s death, the agency cited WRCA for a “serious violation for machine guarding” and fined it $5,000.

“This hazard was specifically noted to exist on ‘Strander M16’ but applies to all similarly configured ‘Strander’ machines,” the OSHA report stated.

WRCA is contesting the citation because the machines have “always been set up that way,” said Sam Jones, human resources manager at WRCA.

The plant has 28 stranders.

“I can’t swear to you all 28 are configured the same, but the majority of the machines are,” Jones said.
Jones and witnesses said Hursman died at the front of the machine. The die stand area, which Jones said was the source of the alleged violation, is at the rear of the machine. The die stand area is where wire twists to make strands for rope.

“The die stand area is at least 80 feet away from where the accident occurred,” Jones said.
WRCA had a deadline of last Wednesday to correct the violation and pay a $5,000 fine. But that deadline was delayed when the company contested.

“Once the case goes into litigation, everything stops. It goes to our attorneys and it will be handled through them,” said Barb Theriot, area director for the Kansas City OSHA office.

Because WRCA denies it violated OSHA standards, Jones said the violation alleged by OSHA has not been corrected.
“There have been no changes to the die stand area of our stranders at this time,” Jones said. “Once we notify OSHA we’re contesting, everything is on hold.”