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Construction Safety Dispatch Articles
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The man killed in a construction accident near Aspen Highlands was identified Friday as Greg Watson of Minneapolis, and more details came to light about the nature of the work involved at La Chamonix Condominiums.
The 39-year-old was killed Thursday when his fall-prevention cord became ensnared in a large drill that is used to bore beneath the 12-unit complex. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating Watson’s employer, Broomfield-based Hayward Baker Geotechnical Construction, said the agency’s Denver area director, Herb Gibson.
Pitkin County commissioners on May 11 approved a land-use application by La Chamonix Homeowners Association, finding that “this proposal, if implemented as demonstrated, will improve the bank of [Maroon] Creek and improve the safety of the Le Chamonix complex as a whole.”
That’s according to the approved resolution, which notes that the building is a “legal, nonconforming structure” because the seven-acre site is within two setbacks. Le Chamonix is within 100 feet of Maroon Creek Road and within 100 feet of the creek itself. Commissioners approved both the site plan review for the bank restoration work and the expansion of the “nonconforming” structure. The resolution says the project would not create adverse impacts.
Planner Mike Kraemer of the county community development department handled the application. A main goal was to replace wooden railroad ties supporting the building that were rotting after 46 years, he said.
Davis Horn Inc., an Aspen land-use consulting company, represented the homeowners association. A memo from the company to Kraemer says La Chamonix was built in 1965. When commissioners passed the legendary resolution downzoning most of the county in 1974, the complex was to be “abated” by 1979. Whether that means La Chamonix was to be razed or simply made to convert to a single-family residence is unclear.
But whatever was intended never happened, and in 1979 commissioners adopted a resolution exempting La Chamonix and several other multi-family buildings from the abatement provisions in the land-use code, the Davis Horn memo says.
In 2009, a consultant evaluated the railroad ties that served as retaining walls. He recommended “the development of additional retention systems behind all of the dwelling units” to stabilize both the condos and the steep creek bank, the memo says.
The project, which began May 1 and is set to finish by Nov. 24, involves a 200-ton crane that supports a large, suspended drilling platform with a drill some 60 feet long.
OSHA is concentrating its investigation on the drill and other equipment, Gibson said. An agency investigator was at the site Friday.
“We’re basically on site collecting evidence of causal factors of why this tragic accident occurred,” he said.
OSHA, which investigates all work-place fatalities, typically interviews witnesses, other employees, union officials and supervisors, said Nancy Smith, deputy regional administrator.
Just before 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, employees were working on the drill, which may have been malfunctioning. Deputy Renee Rayton of the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office said the accident occurred when the machine was plugged back in, twisting Gibson’s safety line and twirling him repeatedly. He was declared dead on the scene.
If OSHA determines that Hayward Baker Geotechnical Construction violated any federal laws during the operation of the equipment, it could receive citations and be fined, Gibson said.
“It’s still too early in the investigation to tell,” he said.
Work at the site has stopped as the agency investigates equipment and will remain halted until OSHA releases the machinery.
“Given the complexity of this situation it will be months for us to complete our investigation,” Gibson said. “We want to do a thorough investigation so these types of accidents never happen again.”
Source: Chad Abraham, Aspen Daily News
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