Worker killed in accident at Microsoft construction site

An ironworker was killed at a construction site on the Microsoft campus in Redmond this morning when he was crushed beneath thousands of pounds of rebar.

The man suffered massive head injuries in the 9:45 a.m. accident at 4480 154th Place Northeast just off 156th Avenue Northeast, said Jim Bove, Redmond police spokesman.

He had been trying to set a rebar form — which had just been released from a crane — into concrete when it toppled onto him, Bove said. The man was tied to the form and was near the top of it when "one of the supports at the bottom gave way," he said. Another ironworker who was helping guide the rebar into place was not injured.

"The crane operator is devastated," Bove said. "He witnessed the whole thing."

Other workers performed CPR and used a defibrillator on the man, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released.

All work at the site has been stopped while the death is investigated. The site will remain closed through tomorrow, said Jack Beaudoin, vice president and general manager for Turner Construction, the lead contractor on the project.

Investigators from the State Department of Labor and Industries were at the scene this morning, standard procedure any time a person is killed on the job, said L&I spokeswoman Elaine Fischer.

"Our role is to assess what happened and determine whether the workplace-safety regulations were being followed," Fischer said.

Fischer said information from the scene indicates the man fatally injured worked for RPM Construction, a subcontractor on the project.

According to Beaudoin, L&I investigators on the scene have ruled the death an accident.

"We have one of the best safety records in the state," Beaudoin said. "Safety is very important to us and we're very concerned an accident like this would happen on one of our projects."

Construction on the new Microsoft office building, located on what was once the Safeco Insurance campus, began in late summer, Beaudoin said. Workers are in the midst of installing the rebar supports on a lower level of an underground garage.

Last month, Microsoft announced that it will be halting the construction project once workers reach ground level, said company spokesman Lou Gellos. While other office buildings — part of an expansion that will increase the size of the Microsoft campus by one-third — are near completion, Microsoft decided to stop construction at the old Safeco site until the economy improves, he said.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or jbroom@seattletimes.com