Greenwood Village – The concrete subcontractor involved in an accident Thursday that injured several construction workers paid fines in 2005 after an employee was injured in a 35-foot fall.
Now, Concrete Express of Denver faces new scrutiny, this time after workers were pouring concrete on the roof of a high-rise and something went wrong, collapsing part of the 30-foot-by-40-foot floor.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration sent three inspectors to the site of the accident, the Landmark at 7677 E. Berry Ave., to find what caused the section of roof to collapse, said Steve Yellstrom, acting director of OSHA’s Englewood office.
The inspectors will interview Concrete Express employees and other workers about possible safety and training lapses, Yellstrom said.
“If appropriate, we’ll issue citations,” he said.
Concrete Express, which has a Denver office, and the main contractor for the project, Beck Residential of Dallas, passed an OSHA inspection of the project in April, Yellstrom said.
A search of OSHA records did not show any problems with Beck in the past.
But OSHA fined Concrete Express $9,600 in 2005 after a Nov. 30, 2004, incident in which a tower crane operator fell 35 feet while using the equipment to raise a concrete form to the fourth floor of a parking building, said Herb Gibson, director of OSHA’s Denver office.
The company, which later paid a $4,800 settlement, was cited because the employee did not use proper safety equipment and had not been trained.
Concrete Express on Thursday referred calls to its attorney, Michelle Berger, who did not return a call for comment from The Denver Post.
Concrete Express employees were pouring concrete into forms on the roof to the 14th floor Thursday when a form shifted and a portion of the roof collapsed onto the 12th floor. There is no 13th floor on the building, or on many others, because of superstitions.
Rike Palese of Everest Development, the property developer, said of the 13 workers taken to the hospital, four required more than cursory treatment. The accident happened in the northwest corner of the two-tower complex.
As of Thursday afternoon, all but one of the injured workers who were sent to hospitals had been released. Of those 12, the most severe injury was a broken wrist, said Everest spokeswoman Diane Nagler. The condition of the other worker was not known, but Nagler said his injuries were not life-threatening.
Initial reports that four people were seriously injured were not accurate, she said.
“The last thing we would want is for somebody to be seriously injured,” Nagler said.
Capt. Rob Hinsberg of South Metro Fire Rescue arrived at the scene shortly after 9:20 a.m. to see workers “yelling and screaming” as they rushed out of the building caked in concrete.
“They looked like they took a concrete bath,” Hinsberg said.
The workers told Hinsberg that some were still trapped inside, so Hinsberg sent a team to rescue them.
“It was all wet concrete,” Hinsberg said. “The workers rode down with it.”
The building was evacuated, and construction supervisors checked time cards to make sure everyone who had entered the building for work had made it out.
Hinsberg said crews were pouring cement on a plywood form supported by aluminum beams and posts.
Something must have caused the beams and posts to buckle, Hinsberg said.
Palese said inspectors have deemed the building stable, but work was halted after the accident. By 3 p.m., no one was at the site. It’s possible construction workers may return to work there today, Everest officials said.
The Parker, Littleton and South Metro fire departments sent numerous ambulances and firetrucks to the construction accident, said Paul Smith, director of the dispatch center for South Metro Fire Rescue.
The Landmark, between East Belleview Avenue and East Orchard Road just off South Quebec Street, will have 135 high-end condominiums, priced from $250,000 to $1 million.
The $140 million building includes 180,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space.
Building planners have said it will include concierge services, a European day spa, a pool with cabanas and gardens, a private dining and wine-tasting room, and a rooftop terrace.
The project is about three months behind schedule because of heavy snow last winter, Palese said, but is expected to open next year. He added that he didn’t think the accident was caused by contractors hurrying to make up for lost time.
Beck spokesman Joe Flores said, “It will take some time to figure out what happened.”
He said several people from Dallas were en route to Denver on Thursday to assist families of the injured workers.
“They’re on our team,” Flores said of Concrete Express. “Obviously, we’re concerned about each individual. We want them to be able to go home at the end of the day.”
Staff writer Margaret Jackson contributed to this report.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
