Federal investigators have found that a Hubbard manufacturing plant where a Youngstown man died earlier this year, failed to protect their employees from molten metal that was heated to more than 2,000 degrees.

Thirty-year-old Jawaylan Patterson died on January 13 at Ellwood Engineered Castings on Hubbard Masury Road.

A Police report states that Patterson was in a pit when molten steel began pouring in. A witness told police that a malfunction with the casting caused the spill.

Police say an employee yelled for everyone to get out of the way and started moving the ladle of molten steel away from workers, but Patterson could not get away in time.

 The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a media release that the company did not have an effective process for containing and managing molten metal leaks.

OSHA also determined the company did not have the required confined space program to make sure workers could exit the mold pit safely; failed to train employees on the hazards in the pit and exposed workers to fall hazards up to 15 feet. 

“A worker died needlessly because Ellwood Engineered Castings Co. failed to protect him and his colleagues from obvious and deadly hazards,” said OSHA Area Director Howard Eberts in Cleveland. “The company could have prevented this tragedy being responsible and by following well-known safety measures.”    

The agency has cited Ellwood Engineered Castings Co. for 11 serious violations and proposed $145,184 in penalties.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

OSHA’s notice to Ellwood Castings is available below: