Accident at Ellwood Steels Construction Site Claims Worker

NEW CASTLE, Pa.  – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Lawrence County Coroner’s office are investigating the death of a worker in an industrial accident Wednesday morning at the construction site of Ellwood Steel Group’s new $60 million mill.

A worker with Diamond Steel Construction Co., North Lima, is dead after falling from a height of approximately 60 feet while working on the building.

A news release from the Lawrence County coroner’s office identified the victim as Gregory Bosela, 32, of Columbiana. According to the coroner, Bosela died from injuries sustained in a fall.

A fire engine truck and command unit from the New Castle fire department responded to a call at 8:07 a.m. from the site of the accident, 40 Furnace St., where Bosela was found unconscious on the ground inside the structure, Assistant Fire Chief Mike Kobbe said Wednesday afternoon.

Before the fall, the victim was working from a bucket truck drilling holes into a steel beam, OSHA spokeswoman Leni Fortson said.

Other workers at the site reported that he was working at the top of the structure, according to Kobbe.

“We don’t have any idea of what caused his fall or what led up to it,” he continued. “When we got there, the male was not breathing and had suffered grave injuries.”

Bosela was in traumatic arrest at the site, said Rich Johnson, Lawrence County deputy coroner.

Paramedics initiated emergency medical treatment until an ambulance from Noga Ambulance Service arrived and took over care and transported Bosela to UPMC Jameson Memorial Hospital, Kobbe said.

Bosela was pronounced dead in the hospital emergency department.

OSHA could not comment further because the investigation is ongoing, Fortson said. The agency has up to six months to complete its investigation and release its findings, she said.

Ellwood Quality Steels, a division of the Ellwood Group,  Ellwood City, broke ground in April on the 110,000-square-foot building, which will house equipment used in two methods of remelting and purifying steel, vacuum arc remelting and electroslag remelting. The product will be used in aerospace and military applications.

Pictured: Aerial view of construction site photographed in August .