Company disputes violations

A Costa Mesa company cited for safety violations that allegedly caused the death of a concrete worker at a Glendale construction site in January plans to appeal the findings, government authorities said Monday.

Freddie Montoya, 40, of Lancaster, was pronounced dead on the scene on Jan. 24 after he was run over by a front-end loader at the construction site, according to an investigation by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

Investigators imposed more than $18,500 in fines for two citations issued to Montoya’s employer — HB Parkco — for violating safety codes and regulations that contributed to his death. Cited violations included failure to provide proper written safety training and failure to ensure adequate definition between heavy equipment zones and ground workers.

According to the division’s report, barricades were in place to keep heavy equipment out of labor areas, however, ground crews were forced to cross through heavy-equipment trafficked areas to obtain tools and supplies.

The loader struck Montoya as he walked across one such traffic zone to get tools for marking concrete foundation, according to the report. The vehicle operator who struck Montoya told investigators that he knew he should not drive into barricade areas for ground workers, but was unaware that those workers could cross into his traffic area on foot.

The company requested appeals forms to the citations through Cal/OSHA on April 3, and has two weeks to return those forms to an appeals board in Sacramento, said Renee Bacchini of Cal/OSHA.

HB Parkco was given until April 5 to correct the violations unless they chose to file an appeal, which they did, Cal/OSHA spokesman Dean Fryer said Monday.

“Most employers do have concerns about the safety of their employees and take steps to correct the violations,” Fryer said. However the company is under no obligation to do so if it files an appeal, he said.

The company is a major concrete subcontractor in the $324-million Americana at Brand mixed-use project being developed by Caruso Holdings Affiliated.

“They could appeal all of it, or they could appeal some of it,” Bacchini said.

A spokesman for HB Parkco, Adrian Hoyle, would not elaborate on what parts of the citations the company would appeal, except to say that “it was pretty straight-forward.”

Settlements can be reached during the appeals proceedings as the administration sometimes adjusts fines or the scope of citations, Fryer said. The actual appeals process could take several months.

— Kelly Strodl contributed

to this story.