Sequim man partially crushed

L&I to investigatebackhoe incident

s critically injured the morning of June 23 when a backhoe partially ran over him while performing light industrial work in LaPush.

Doctors reported Winters, 41, was in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after an Airlift Northwest helicopter transported him to the hospital from the scene. He suffered internal injuries resulting from the 9:40 a.m. incident.

Winters is an employee with Crescent Development Co. and was working on a section of a recreational vehicle resort expansion project for the Quileute Tribe. No charges are likely to be forwarded to the Clallam County prosecuting attorney by the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office against the backhoe driver as the incident was deemed an accident after an initial investigation by Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Brian King, who is with the agency’s west-end detachment.

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries will conduct its own investigation into the incident.

“The purpose of our investigation is to find out what happened, what the workplace regulations were and if the employer was meeting the obligations to ensure workplace safety,” said the state agency’s spokeswoman Elaine Fischer on L&I’s procedure for most on-site workplace incidents. “It typically takes a couple of months to complete an investigation, sometimes longer.”

Fischer said the agency looks into established safety protocols in place for the project, what employers did to meet regulations for performing the type of work that was occurring during the incident and what type of training was given to the people involved.

The resort, along the shore of the Pacific Ocean, is being renovated by the Quileute Tribe to add more recreational vehicle stations as well as improve the existing facilities. The resort has about 30-50 hookups.

The Clallam County Sheriff’s west-end detachment, Quileute Tribal Police, an ambulance from the Forks Community Hospital and a helicopter from Airlift Northwest responded to the scene.