Arlington company fined after worker’s death
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, January 31, 2007
QUINCY – An Arlington company was fined $10,500 after an ironworker fell to his death at the construction site for Microsoft’s new data center last summer.
The Erection Co. was issued a citation Jan. 25 by the state Department of Labor and Industries for three violations related to the July 25 accident.
”We will appeal the citation and we disagree with its issuance entirely,” Adam Jones, president and owner of the company, said Wednesday. The company could not have done anything differently to prevent the accident, he said.
Travis L. Watts, 31, of Richland, was killed when a bundle of roof decking to which he was harnessed slipped between steel roof beams and fell about 30 feet.
Watts died instantly of head and chest injuries, according to the Grant County coroner’s office.
Labor and Industries issued a citation alleging The Erection Co. failed to address whether workers could safely harness themselves to the bundles and failed to adequately provide fall arrest devices for workers.
Jones said there were three tie-off mechanisms within the reach of Watts while he was working.
The company also was cited for failing to conduct weekly walk-around safety inspections and failing to prohibit employees from standing on unsecured cantilevered material.
When it opens later this year, the 75-acre Microsoft site will house tens of thousands of high-capacity computers that will store data and provide Internet-based services for customers.
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Information from: The Wenatchee World, http://www.wenworld.com
