A worker was killed after being spun around and mangled by a drilling rig at a construction project near Aspen, CO.
The 39-year-old Minnesota man’s fall protection cord got tangled in the drill which was 60 feet long and 7 inches in diameter. The drill had been malfunctioning, and he was trying to fix it.
A sheriff’s deputy said the cord acted like a Slinky that was hooked to the victim and the drill bit. “His cord got wrapped up, and it kept twisting him,” the deputy said.
Several of his co-workers witnessed his death. The drill spun him for an estimated 30-to-60 seconds. Workers couldn’t immediately stop the drill. They eventually shut it down by turning off the generator that powered it about 30 yards away.
By the time the drill stopped, the man was already dead. His body was mangled to the point that it was nearly severed in half.
The man’s name wasn’t released to Colorado newspapers. He lived in Minnesota, and his family had to be notified.
He worked for Hayward Baker Geotechnical Construction.
Workers from a local counseling center arrived on the scene shortly after the incident to provide grief aid for some of the workers.
OSHA is investigating.
