Nov. 3--The state Department of Labor is investigating a North Slope work accident that left a man in critical care with a crushed chest.

The Arctic Slope Regional Corp. worker, John Fay, was injured when he was pinned between a tractor truck and a semi-trailer last week. Fay remained in critical care at Providence Alaska Medical Center on Monday.

The driver of the truck was an employee of Alaska West Express Inc., a trucking subsidiary of the Anchorage-based Lynden Inc.

"Apparently the truck either backed into Mr. Fay or ran over him," said Steve Standley, chief of enforcement at Alaska Occupational Safety and Health. He said his department was still gathering the preliminary information about what exactly happened.

The accident occurred just before midnight on Oct. 27. Standley wasn't sure if it occurred in Prudhoe Bay or at nearby Deadhorse.

Arctic Slope declined to comment but did confirm that Fay works for the company and is receiving medical treatment. The Native corporation employs more than 9,000 people worldwide in its family of companies, according to its Web site. It operates divisions in petroleum refining and marketing, government technical services, energy services and construction. It was not immediately clear what division of the company Fay worked for but Standley said preliminary reports are that he was a laborer.

Alaska Occupational Safety and Health is investigating to see if any work-safety regulations were violated, standard for injuries that occur at the workplace.

Oil giant BP operates Prudhoe Bay. ASRC is one of its many contract companies. BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said the company takes safety very seriously and both it and ASRC are investigating what happened.

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