Fatal Accident at Universal Stainless Leads Steelworkers To Flag Ongoing Safety Failures

Hunterbrook Media’s investment affiliate, Hunterbrook Capital, did not take any positions based on this article.

A worker died this week while operating a crane at a steel mill in Dunkirk, New York, according to former and current employees. The mill is run by Universal Stainless, which the multinational steelmaker Aperam acquired earlier this year. 

The fatality marks at least the second at the facility in recent months, according to multiple sources. Another employee allegedly suffered a heart attack while operating a forklift. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is scrutinizing the incident, with inspectors reportedly on-site at the Dunkirk facility.

“OSHA is currently investigating this incident and has six months to complete its investigation,” a U.S. Department of Labor spokesman told Hunterbrook in an email. “More information will be available after the investigation is complete.”

Local newspaper Observer Today reported that the Dunkirk Fire Department had responded to the incident at the plant around 5 p.m. Monday.”

“If they do a full inspection, they’re definitely gonna shut that place down,” a current employee told Hunterbrook Media, adding that there are “so many OSHA violations, it’s ridiculous.” 

If OHSA determines there were serious safety violations, it could mandate the mill to correct identified hazards, including by seeking a court order to halt operations until the issues are addressed. 

One former employee shared pictures of the steel mill with Hunterbrook — which show hazards that could raise red flags to OSHA. These include what he claims are “a crane with faulty hook latch,” “material on the floors that fell and almost took someone out,” “zip tied sensors that never got properly fixed,” “exposed wires all over the place,” a room that was smoky “from starting up a machine,” and a floor “constantly soaked in hydraulic fluid.” 

Hunterbrook previously published an exposé into working conditions at Universal before the acquisition. Aperam declined to comment on this week’s tragedy, citing an ongoing investigation.

Pattern of Safety Concerns

Multiple current and former employees, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, described a workplace with inadequate safety training, dangerous equipment, and a corporate culture that prioritizes production over safety.

“They don’t want to take the time to train anyone properly. The place is a joke on safety,” said one employee with six years of experience at the mill. “There’s a lot of equipment that’s not really safe to use. There’s cranes with no horns, no brakes. It’s really dangerous in that place for sure.”

Another employee who’s been at the mill for a year told Hunterbrook that the steelworker who died on the job was “new.” 

“He needed supervision,” they added, drawing a contrast with their own training a year earlier, when they had to follow more experienced workers who wouldn’t let them touch anything for a week. 

“I’m actually surprised it didn’t happen sooner,” another former employee, Mackenzie Barclay, told Hunterbrook. “With how that plant is with their equipment, I’m not shocked at all.” She added, “They don’t take care of anything that breaks. They do like a temporary fix.”

Barclay also said the training was inadequate. “They just kind of throw you on the machine and tell you, ‘Don’t fuck up.’” 

The only safety training, she said, was online.

“They just throw you in front of a computer and make you watch a couple of videos and answer questions,” she said.

Hunterbrook’s previous investigation revealed a history of safety violations, quality control issues, and a culture described by former employees as toxic — including at the Dunkirk facility, which one source had called “outdated,” citing equipment that dated back to the 1950s or even earlier.

A couple of months earlier, a leaked U.S. Air Force Safety Investigation Board report had linked a fatal Osprey crash in Japan that killed eight U.S. airmen — and potentially at least five prior aircraft failures — to defective metals produced by Universal Stainless.

The defects were identified as “non-metallic inclusions,” or impurities in the alloy that weaken the metal.

A Dunkirk employee told Hunterbrook that the shop floors were strewn with dangerous materials such as metal bits and fluids “that are supposed to be stored properly” but are kept on the shop floors for “the sake of production.” 

“Material on the floor is a leading cause of foreign inclusions in material. It’ll stick to it and when it gets rerolled become part of that bar,” they said.

Last November, family members of an airman killed in the crash filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Universal Stainless as well as other companies involved in the manufacture of the aircraft, Boeing and Bell Textron. As of February 24, Universal had yet to respond to the lawsuit, but Bell Textron and Boeing denied the allegations, claiming they built the aircraft to government specifications — known as the “government contractor defense,” according to The Berkshire Eagle.

Problems Persist Under New Ownership

Aperam acquired the steel company for approximately $539 million in January 2025. According to multiple sources inside the plant, conditions have not improved during the transition to new ownership.

“They don’t care about us,” said one employee, saying money was all that was important. “That’s all. Money, money, money, money.” He expressed anger that the plant wasn’t closed out of respect for the workers who died. “I don’t like how they’re treating the people.” 

“I feel bad because you know we‘re family, you know what I mean. We’re working together.”

He also described harsh working conditions. “In the winter,” he said, “there’s more snow inside than outside the plant.” 

Several workers explained that despite the dangerous conditions, many continue to work at the mill because it offers one of the few decent-paying jobs in the area.

“I really hope the company takes safety a lot more serious than what they do,” said the six-year veteran of the facility. “I really hope they fix equipment instead of running it until failure and putting bandaids on everything.”

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