Company Fined Over Worker Death in Colorado

Federal officials have fined a Minnesota company nearly $12,000 for safety violations after a worker died in a grisly construction accident near Aspen Highlands, Colo., in August.

Thirty-nine-year-old Greg Watson of Minneapolis was killed after his safety cord got tangled in a hard-rock construction drill and pulled him into a spinning auger. Watson was dead by the time co-workers could stop the geological drilling rig.

Hayward Baker Geotechnical Construction, which has an office in Broomfield, Colo., was fined for violations involving the emergency shut-off button and an improper anchor point.

According to the Aspen Daily News, the work was intended to improve the safety of a12-unit housing complex and the bank of Maroon Creek.