A construction worker was rescued by firefighters Thursday afternoon after he became pinned by the small excavator he was operating in a building on Western Avenue in Allston, the Fire Department said.

The man became trapped about 1:04 p.m. when the 1,000-pound machine shifted during operation and pinned him against a wall, said Steve MacDonald, spokesman for the Boston Fire Department.

A technical rescue response team and Boston EMS arrived soon after the incident and freed him in less than an hour.

“It went smoothly,” MacDonald said, “The firefighters spend a lot of time training for these technical rescues. They did a great job freeing the man.”

Workers were “backfilling a trench” for sewer pipes, MacDonald said. The site was formerly a Volkswagen dealership and is now owned by Harvard University.

The worker was evaluated by EMS and ta