DaytonDailyNews.com

MIDDLETOWN — A 26-year-old West Carrollton man died in an apparent industrial accident at AK Steel, the third death at the facility in less than three years.

Mike Lewis of West Carrollton died at around 2 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 24 while changing a tire on a tractor-trailer, according to Middletown police.

Lewis was an employee of RMB Enterprises, according to police. This is the second death involving an employee of RMB Enterprises, a Fostoria-based contractor. In 2007, a man working for RMB was killed at AK Steel when a tractor-trailer tire separated from the rim and exploded.

Lewis had been working for RMB for nearly a year, said Jeff Beck, RMB's general manager. Lewis is survived by his wife, a daughter, 13 and a son, 11.

"It's a tragic loss to everyone here at RMB," he said. "He was a great employee and good family man. He coached his girl's basketball team and was very well liked by those he worked with at the company and in the mill."

RMB employees transport steel coils inside the facility and are charged with doing routine vehicle maintenance.

Beck said RMB contacted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and that OSHA investigators are scheduled to be on site Monday, Aug. 25.

"We have 12 very specific job safety procedures dealing with all the tire work we do," he said. "The early signs appear that all the procedures were being followed."

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday morning, according to Butler County Coroner Dr. Richard Burkhardt.

In another incident, in May 2006, a 54-year-old man was working in the coke plant when he was struck by a moving piece of equipment and later died.