A 23-year-old man who was ejected from a man lift at a construction site in Bayfield last week died Saturday.
The Trinidad man was working with a construction crew contracted by the town of Bayfield to rebuild the Bayfield Parkway bridges over the Pine River, according to Roy Vreeland, deputy chief with the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District.
Vreeland said the man was ejected from a lift on Thursday and when he landed, was impaled by a survey stick. He was then flown to St. Anthony's Hospital in Lakewood in stable condition.
A picture posted on the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District site shows that the man lift apparently fell off the side of a dirt road.
On Saturday the man died, according to his family, which identified the man as 23-year-old Brian John Anthony Shaw, known as B.J., of Trinidad.
According to Vreeland, town officials met in Bayfield on Monday morning to discuss the incident.
Vreeland said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency that sets and enforces workplace safety measures, arrived in Bayfield Monday to investigate the incident.
Steve Yellstrom, assistant director for OSHA's Englewood office, confirmed the agency is investigating the incident but did not have additional information.
Yellstrom said OSHA does have requirements and protocols for workers operating a man lift, but it depends on the specific equipment.
It was unclear what construction crew Shaw was working for on Monday, or whether he was wearing the proper equipment.
Whitney Shaw, B.J. Shaw's stepmother, said he grew up in Trinidad and was well loved by the community. He studied auto-diesel mechanic school at WyoTech, a technical college in Wyoming, she said.
Whitney Shaw said the family recently lost contact with B.J. Shaw, so she was unsure how long he had lived in Southwest Colorado, or what originally brought him to the area.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
