A 31-year-old man died after a tragic industrial accident at a Birmingham, Alabama, steel plant last week, despite not being authorized to be on the property, officials said.
Authorities responded to CMC Steel in Birmingham on Friday, Nov. 7, just before 7 p.m. local time, after workers realized someone had been injured, AL.com reported.
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Robert Carson Chambliss, a Birmingham resident.
Chambliss was neither employed by CMC Steel nor hired as a contractor. Officials said he had entered the site without authorization before the accident occurred. Responding officers pronounced him dead at 10:49 p.m. local time, according to the coroner’s office.
Officials later determined his death was caused by blunt force trauma. Additional details about the incident have not been released.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 5,283 fatal work-related injuries in the United States in 2023, representing a 3.7% decrease from 2022.
Construction has consistently ranked as the industry with the highest number of workplace fatalities since 2011. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration notes four primary hazards in the sector: falls, being caught in or between objects, being struck by objects, and electrocution.
Earlier BLS data from 2009 shows that “contact with objects and equipment” was responsible for 17% of the 4,340 fatal workplace injuries recorded that year.
