A drill rig worker was killed in a fall off a derrick Monday near Battlement Mesa. Larry D. Hill, 42, of Moab, Utah, was pronounced dead at the scene Monday, Garfield County Coroner Trey Holt said.

"He was trying to fix something on the rig," Holt said. "He wasn't tied off."

Hill fell 75 to 80 feet off the rig, Holt said.

Rig workers are required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to wear safety belts, said Herb Gibson, Denver area director. "We do require fall protection when people are working at heights," he said.

OSHA is investigating the accident and will issue a report in a few months if it finds OSHA regulations were violated, Gibson said.

The accident occurred at 5:30 a.m. on Union Drilling Inc. Rig 32, which was operating near Battlement Mesa.

An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday. Results of tests for alcohol and drugs will take from a week to 10 days, he said.

Gibson said it was the first drill rig fatality reported in Colorado this year.

"Any fatality is tragic but we're glad there aren't more. We want to challenge the energy companies to make work as safe as possible," he said.

Union Drilling did not immediately respond to phone calls.