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Vol. 72/No. 27      July 7, 2008

 
Construction worker
killed at Las Vegas site
 
BY NAOMI CRAINE  
On June 16 Lyndal Bates became the 12th construction worker in the last 19 months to die on the job on the Las Vegas Strip. Bates, a member of the Carpenters union, was dismantling scaffolding at the Echelon Tower construction site when he fell about 12 feet and hit his head on the ground, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

This fatality came just two weeks after union members walked off the job at the nearby MGM Mirage CityCenter project, where six workers have died since construction began in January 2007. The strikers went back to work a day later after the general contractor, Perini Building Co., agreed to a safety review, increased safety training, and full access to the job site for union officials.

There is a major construction boom on the Las Vegas Strip, with many new hotels and casinos in the works. “They’re looking for shortcuts to do it faster and they break the rules. Not the workers, but the companies,” a shop steward from the Carpenters union at the CityCenter project told Militant correspondents June 7. He asked that his name not be used, for fear of company harassment.

Last July about 70 Ironworkers at the Fontainebleau construction site stopped work for three days in an area they deemed unsafe, demanding the contractor fix several problems. Three days after they returned to work, however, apprentice Norvin Tsosie fell to his death due to an unsafe hook.

The Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has recorded numerous safety violations at the various construction sites, including the use of faulty equipment, lack of temporary floors or netting designed to break a fall, and uncovered holes that workers can fall through. Often, however, the safety agency has withdrawn citations during informal meetings with contractors, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

Bates’ death was the first fatal accident at the Echelon construction site, where five hotels are being built simultaneously. The 87-acre resort is scheduled to open in 2010. In April another carpenter working on that project was hospitalized with head injuries after being hit by a piece of falling equipment. Nevada OSHA issued no citations in that incident.

The Labor Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives will hold a hearing June 24 to hear testimony about recent construction deaths in Las Vegas and New York.
 
 
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Study: gov’t agency hides workplace injuries
15th coal miner killed in 2008; retreat mining used
No worker has to die on the job!  
 
 
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