HAMMOND — A.S. Joseph is one of a dozen names of workers killed at the former Inland Steel mill in East Chicago in 1948, when steelworker deaths were far more common than they were today at Northwest Indiana's mills.
"When you're thinking about these names, there's a story behind every person," said his grandson Robert J. Joseph, the manager of facilities and shared services at ArcelorMittal R&D in East Chicago.
Absalom Sayyid Joseph was born in 1885 in Persia, which is now Iran. He was an Assyrian Christian who became a stonemason and bricklayer by trade.
"Because of his skill, he traveled around the area quite a bit," Joseph said. "He spent time in parts of the Turkish empire, Eastern Europe and Caucasia, which is now Tbilisi in Russia. As family legend has it and this is true, while he was working in Tbilisi he met and befriended a local politician and warlord who hung out in the same taverns as he did. The gentleman's name was Joseph Stalin."
People are also reading…
He got married and had two sons and a daughter. World War I tore the area apart and the Muslim majority hunted down and persecuted the Christian minority.
"War and disease took the lives of their ton sons and their daughter became very sickly," he said.
The family escaped to Venice, Italy and A.S. Joseph made his way to the United States alone in 1919.
"He did not have a penny to his name when he arrived at Ellis Island. He spent his entire savings," he said. "When he arrived at Gary, Indiana, he walked off the street into a job at Inland Steel. He barely spoke or understood English. However, his skills and strong work ethic allowed him to hold on to a job during the Great Depression."
He brought his family over to the United States in a few years and grew his family but lost his daughter to diphtheria. He became a single father of three kids after his wife developed early-onset dementia and was institutionalized for the rest of her life after suffering the trauma of being a refugee and losing three of her children.
"His positive attitude never waned. When asked later why he moved to America, he responded, and this is a direct quote, 'because the streets are paved with gold,'" he said.
He led a hand-picked crew doing maintenance projects at Inland Steel in Indiana Harbor. He loved to work, never considered retirement and was still working for Inland Steel when he was 64 years old.
In 1948, he and his crew were working on reline.
"In those days, what we call 'danger close' was the norm," Joseph said. "While tapping the No. 1 Open Hearth Furnace, something went wrong. Hot steel exploded and splashed all over the floor. Absalom and his crew were unprotected and were caught in that. They were all taken to St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago but it was only a matter of time. My grandfather died 18 hours after he was drenched in molten steel – 18 hours. He was burned on 90% of his body."
Two of his co-workers also died alongside him. His colleague George Smith survived but never fully recovered and never returned to work.
Joseph was born 20 years later and never knew his grandfather. He just heard stories about his good nature, goofy sense of humor and how he provided for his family and looked out for his co-workers. He wonders what he would think of his own career in the steel industry.
"Every name on the wall is somebody who went to work, started a shift and never came home," he said.
Deaths at Northwest Indiana steel mills have gotten less frequent at Northwest Indiana steel mills in recent years amid advances in technology, collective bargaining gains and an ongoing prioritization of safety first. United Steelworkers Local 1010 President Don Seifert is about to become the second president in the union local's history without a death during a full, four-term term. USW Local 6787, which represents workers at Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor, hasn't lost a member since Kenneth "Buster" Gish died in an accident in 2015, nearly a decade ago.
The World Steel Association reported record low safety numbers in 2022, when steel mills worldwide suffered 85 fatalities. Steelworkers suffered 18,448 injuries, including 1,830 where they missed work.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2022, the most recent year for which data was available, the primary metal manufacturing industry suffered 3.9 injuries or illness per 100 full workers. That includes 1.2 injuries or illnesses with days away from work.
Steel mills are inherently dangerous with volcano-like temperatures, the potential of fires and explosive chemical reactions, high catwalks, trucks, trains and steel coil that's weighed by the ton. Safety has been a high priority for both the United Steelworkers union and steelmakers.
"Safe production is our primary core value and integral to the way we do business," Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor Works General Manager LaDale said. "Cliffs has a long history of providing a safe workplace starting in the early 1900s. We've come a long way since that time. The significant lives on in Cliffs' culture. We all have to be good stewards of safety."
Safety policies and procedures are meant to prevent tragic deaths, USW Local Griever Jake Cole said.
"Every statistic has a story and a dream. Their families were forever changed by tragedy. We have to ensure their lives were not lost in vain," he said.
Michael Osika, a 44-year-old Schererville resident, was one of the most recent steelworkers to die in an industrial accident. He was doing a routine repair at the ladle maintenance area at Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor West when he was killed in Sept. 2022.
"You have no idea what it feels like when it happens on your watch," USW Local 1011 President Steve Serrano said. "You're looking at the family trying to provide solace and understand what they're going through. There are no words. Their lives our forever changed in a moment. You hope you'll never that call. It changes you as an individual. You need to be your brothers' keeper and tell your brother to put on safety glasses so he doesn't lose an eye."
No one should have to sacrifice their life or health for their job, USW Local 1010 Jay Wacasey said.
"I was supposed to work Christmas with four years of seniority in 1997. I had to leave by 3 p.m. for my shift. I went to my grandmother's for chicken and dumplings with my wife who was nine months pregnant. We had had some false alarms and then her water broke. I asked my grandmother, who was a 25-year steelworker at U.S. Steel, what they meant. She told me it meant no holiday pay and my baby girl was coming," he said. "I didn't go to work that day. I made a decision that sacrifice wouldn't have been worth it. We all decide what sacrifices are acceptable, like do you have cake on Friday while you work on your birthday. The ultimate sacrifice is never acceptable."
Workers need to take precautions, he said.
"Success leads to complacency," he said. "We don't need any more stories. If I ask you to wear a harness, button your jacket or close the ladle gate, that's because there's a story. I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job. I'm trying to tell you I care about you."
A look back at Northwest Indiana businesses that closed in 2023
A look back at Region businesses that closed in 2023
Beer Geeks, one of the Region's first, most beloved and most influential craft beer bars, closed after more than a decade and is being reimagined as a new concept.
The landmark 88-year-old castle-shaped White Castle in Whiting is coming down to be replaced with a newer, larger, more modern White Castle restaurant.
A longtime staple in downtown Crown Point poured its last drink.
The longtime Westforth Sports gun shop is closing.
The Silver Line Building Products plant at 16801 Exchange Ave. will be shuttered permanently.
Brewfest in Highland will close in what's been called "an end of an era."
David's Bridal filed for bankruptcy and could close all stores if no buyer emerges to save it.
The 88-year-old Whiting White Castle will be remembered with displays at museums in two different states.
For years, the "millionaire's club" met every morning in the corner booth of the historic 88-year-old White Castle at Indianapolis Boulevard and 119th Street in downtown Whiting. The landmark restaurant served its final slider Tuesday.
One of Northwest Indiana's most popular and enduring hobby shops is looking for a buyer after the longtime owner died.
J&L This N That Consignment Shop, a popular thrift store, closed in downtown Whiting after a run of several years.
A Calumet Region institution, Calumet Fisheries on the far South Side of Chicago, is temporarily closed after failing a city health inspection.
Just days after reopening after city health inspectors shut it down, Calumet Fisheries suffered a major fire.
Pepe's Mexican Restaurant is no mas in Valparaiso.
Beer Geeks in Highland rebranded as B-Side Bar & Lounge and then closed within a few months.
Troubled retailer Bed Bath and Beyond will permanently close its Valparaiso location as it shutters more stores nationwide as it looks to restructure and shrink its footprint to save the struggling business.
Peoples Bank has shuttered its branch in downtown Hammond.
Viking Artisan Ales will soon pour its last craft beer at its Merrillville taproom.
Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom is closing after 15 years at one of Northwest Indiana's most prominent highway interchanges.
The Chicago Auto Show, the nation's largest auto show, returns to McCormick Place Saturday, running through Feb. 19.
Munster-based Land O'Frost, the packaged lunchmeat giant, is laying off 215 workers in Chicago and shuttering a plant it acquired two years ago.