HILLMAN, MI – Officials have confirmed a workplace fatality in Northern Michigan.

The Michigan Occupational Safety & Health Administration said Thursday that a 64-year-old lumber handler died in Hillman on Tuesday.

Officials say the victim was tailing lumber at a conveyor when a piece of lumber was ejected from the nearby edger causing it to ricochet off a backstop and strike the victim in the head.

“Every fatality is a tragic reminder of why workplace safety and health must remain a top priority,” officials said in a statement.

Specific details about the location of the incident were not immediately available. This is Michigan’s 30th workplace fatality of 2025.

There were 34 MIOSHA-related deaths in 2024.

See Full Page