Employer appeals safety citations in worker’s death

The Costa Mesa-based employer of a worker who was killed at a construction site in Glendale in January has appealed the citations issued by state investigators that blamed safety violations for his death.

Eddie Montoya, 40, died of “massive upper torso trauma” on Jan. 24 after a front-end loader backed over him as he walked behind it, according to the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s report of the investigation.

In March, safety investigators fined Montoya’s employer — Costa Mesa-based HB Parkco Construction Inc. — more than $18,500 for not providing proper written safety training and for failing to ensure adequate delineation between workers and heavy equipment zones.

The company filed its appeal in April, but the safety administration did not release those documents until this week.

— Jason Wells