Twelve construction workers have died in the last 18 months at Strip construction sites including Six at the City Center
HOW MANY MORE
LAS VEGAS CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
MUST DIE
A veteran carpenter died Monday morning at the Echelon construction site on the Las Vegas Strip.
6/16/08
We Must Continue To Bring Awareness
to The Safety Issues at
MGM Mirage
City Center Project
and all other Las Vegas Construction Sites!
Cost of Expansion
By Zach Wise
Sun, Mar 30, 2008
In the shadows of the cranes, steel, and concrete
upon which Las Vegas has pinned its addiction to
growth, a body count has emerged. Nine construction workers
have died in the last 16 months at Strip construction sites.
For family members featured in this video, the light response from government authorities has compounded the mourning process.
"It feels like they rendered my brother's life valueless," said Monique Cole, whose brother died last year at CityCenter.
Others wonder: Is safety sacrificed in the rush to build?
CityCenter developer MGM Mirage says ....?
In Solidarity the SPFPA Will Continue
The Fight to Bring Awareness to The Safety Issues Facing Unionized Construction Workers at Various Las Vegas Construction Sites.
CONSTRUCTION WORKER DEATHS ON THE STRIP:
Interpreting protections away
Union: OSHA weakens its standards with challenge-proof ‘directives’
Prompted by circumstances surrounding the deaths of construction workers on the Las Vegas Strip, the International Association of Ironworkers is questioning federal safety regulators over their decision not to enforce several safety laws.
Source: Las Vegas Sun
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JOIN THE FIGHT TO BRING AWARNESS TO THE SAFETY CONDITIONS AT
MGM MIRAGE CITY CENTER AND OTHER
LAS VEGAS UNIONIZED CONSTRUCTION SITES
Contact These Trade Unions Below to See
How You Can HELP!
Together Maybe We Can Save a Construction Workers Life
FedOSHA director, in Las Vegas, mum on Strip safety
The timing couldn't have been more perfect. One week after the entire workforce of CityCenter walked out to protest unsafe working conditions, and just days after the state announced it was bringing in federal workplace safety inspectors to help them inspect CityCenter, the head of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Ed Foulke popped into town on a pre-scheduled visit to speak at a conference for safety professionals.
Worker killed at downtown Las Vegas construction site 5/19/08
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A fire official says a worker was killed in a construction accident at the Union Park redevelopment site in downtown Las Vegas.
Source: AP
Unions threaten CityCenter walkout over safety
By Alexandra Berzon · June 2, 2008 · 6:38 PM
Construction workers will walk off the job at CityCenter at midnight tonight if the general contractor, Perini Building Company, does not follow through on steps to improve safety, union leaders said today.
Flanked by nearly 30 local union leaders, Steve Ross, executive secretary-treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building Trades Council, announced at a press conference today afternoon that in a meeting that morning union leaders had unanimously voted to demand that Perini agree to pay for additional safety training for workers, allow national union researchers to examine root causes of safety problems on the site, and allow union leaders full access to the work site.
The deaths of six construction workers at CityCenter is “unacceptable,” Ross said.
The public pronouncement was prompted in part by the death of Dustin Tarter, a 39-year-old operating engineer who became the latest casualty when he was crushed to death Saturday by the counterweight of a crane at the $9.2 billion MGM Mirage project.
Workers walk off CityCenter site in protest
Steve Ross, Secretary Treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council, speaks about construction worker deaths at MGM Mirage's CityCenter site during a news conference Monday in Henderson.
JOB SITE DEATHS
The Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating Saturday's death of Dustin Tarter, said Elisabeth Shurtleff, a spokeswoman with the Nevada Department of Business and Industry.
Tarter was a crane "oiler" who was working on a moving crane when he is believed to have been caught between the counterweight system and the track of the crane, fire officials said. Tarter was crushed and killed.
His was the sixth worker death at the project site.
The CityCenter project is expected to open in late 2009 on the Strip. It is being built by MGM Mirage.
The others who died while working on the project are:
• Mark Wescoat, 47, of Las Vegas, an electrician who fell about 20 feet to his death on April 26.
• Harold Billingsley, 46, of Las Vegas, an ironworker who died Oct. 5, 2007, after falling about 55 feet after reportedly hitting his head on a beam and losing his balance.
• Harvey Englander, 65, of Las Vegas who died Aug. 9, 2007, when his body was struck and severed by an elevator counter-weight system.
• Bobby Lee Tohannie, 40, of Kayenta, Ariz., and Angel J. Hernandez, 24, of Las Vegas, were crushed to death Feb. 6, 2007, when two 3,000-pound steel walls fell on them.
Source: Las Vegas Journal
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Statement: Mark H. Ayers, President of the Building & Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, Regarding Recent Fatalities In Construction Industry
Construction workers deserve to come home after a hard day's work, healthy and alive.-Mark H. Ayers, President of the Building & Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
(5/30/08) :
WASHINGTON, May 30 Newswire -- The recent spate of construction worksite fatalities - including a fatal tower crane collapse in New York City today and a disturbing trend of construction fatalities in Las Vegas, NV - have raised public awareness of the real dangers faced daily by those who work in the construction industry. Our hearts go out to the grieving families, friends and neighbors who loved and cherished those workers and bystanders killed in these accidents. All of us who work within the construction trades mourn with them.
Yet tomorrow, another three or four workers could be killed working in the construction industry. And two the next day. And four the next. The sad fact is an average of four construction workers die on the job every day in our nation. In 2006, 1,282 construction workers died from injuries they sustained on the job.
Yet, almost every death on a construction site is preventable.
For those of us working in the construction safety and health field, there is no such thing as an accident, only a preventable injury. Hazards abound on construction sites, but many hazards can be reduced or eliminated. Workers in a trench can be buried alive - if the walls of the trench are not properly supported. An ironworker, so comfortable walking on a steel beam 100 feet above ground that he treats it like a sidewalk, can slip on a thin patch of dried mud or a stray bolt and fall to his death - if he is not secured with a safety harness. Even a housepainter on a ladder 10 feet above the ground can just as easily suffer a fatal fall - if he or she is carrying tools up the ladder, is using a broken ladder, or one that will not support their weight. Electrocutions, being crushed by equipment or struck by an object are just some of the other dangers.
Construction workers suffer more than 22 percent of all work-related deaths, but these workers make up only 8 percent of the workforce.
Of course, every worker who is injured does not die. More than 400,000 construction workers are injured annually; some result in a career-ending or even permanent disability. But not every injury is obvious. Wet cement, which burns the skin of a worker who doesn't have protective clothing, can go unnoticed because the caustic agents eat away at skin with little pain. A cement burn damages muscle tissue and can even require amputation of limbs.
Injuries aren't the only hazards. Occupational illnesses, usually from exposure to hazardous compounds, make take years to develop, but they have long-term health consequences. Dust from cutting bricks or concrete block, welding fumes, and paint vapors contain all the components necessary for numerous lung ailments and lung cancer. Even the guy cutting your granite countertop is at risk for inhaling silica, which causes the lung disease silicosis.
The Governing Board of Presidents of the Building & Construction Trades Department will meet next week to examine this issue in greater detail and formulate recommendations designed to effectively improve jobsite safety in the construction industry.
Training and education of workers in safety and health measures is crucial. So is training and educating the supervisory personnel and employers who control the site to ensure that safety does not fall off the daily checklist. And OSHA must step up its enforcement of job safety rules and regulations.
Thousands of families are depending on industry stakeholders, as well as employers and well-trained workers, to look out for each other. Construction workers deserve to come home after a hard day's work, healthy and alive.
Company meets demands 'and then some'
Earlier in the day, the workers had been in front of CityCenter carrying signs reading "On Strike/Unsafe Job Site" and chanting "CityCemetery" and "No More Death."
The union group agreed to let workers return to work after Perini agreed to:
• Allow the Center for Construction Research and Training to perform a safety assessment of the work sites.
• Allow the center to implement on-site training for all construction workers.
• Agreed to give union and safety officials full access to the work sites.
"Perini is on board with us, and we are moving in that direction," Ross said Tuesday afternoon.
MGM Mirage, which is building the massive CityCenter as a joint venture with Dubai World, the investment arm of the Persian Gulf state of Dubai, welcomed the end of the walkout.
"We have been informed of today's agreement between Perini and the Building Trades," the company said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. "We will continue to insist that Perini, its subcontractors, and the unions work together to ensure that safety awareness and individual responsibility is foremost in the minds of every worker every day on the job site."
RABUN JR., DAVID
DAVID RABUN JR. David Mathew Rabun Jr., 30, an ironworker, of Las Vegas, died Nov. 27, 2007. He is survived by his wife, Jessica; son, Dylan Mathew; mother, Sandra Alton, all of Round Rock, Texas; and his father, David Mathew Sr. of Las Vegas. Visitation will be 2-5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, at Palm Mortuary, 1325 N. Main St.
Federal OSHA Coming to CityCenter
CONSTRUCTION WORKER DEATHS ON THE STRIP: Gibbons says Nevada OSHA can count on help with its massive safety inspection
By Alexandra Berzon Nevada workplace safety regulators, concerned about construction worker deaths but overwhelmed by the task of inspecting MGM Mirage’s $9.2 billion CityCenter site, have taken an unprecedented step: Calling in help from the feds.
On May 3, the family of Mark Wescoat, who became the fifth man to die on the CityCenter project when he fell to his death April 26, held his funeral in Vineland, N.J. His wife, Susan Wescoat, top, was comforted by Joseph Gatto, a man described by Wescoat's brothers as a longtime family friend.
On Saturday in Boulder City, private services were held for Dustin Tarter of Henderson, who died at CityCenter on May 31.
CityCenter -- the biggest project under way, with six hotel and condo towers rising at once -- has claimed the most lives and become a focal point for the outcry over the deaths.
The attention comes at a critical time for MGM Mirage and Perini as they push to complete the project.
If it isn't finished on time,
the investment arm of the Persian Gulf state which owns half of CityCenter. DubaiWorld deferred comment to MGM Mirage.
Ironworkers push feds to restore
Pressure on OSHA to step up fall-safety measures comes during agency director’s visit
Ironworkers ask OSHA to reinstate safety penalties
An alliance of ironworker unions from four states including Nevada is asking federal OSHA officials to rescind directives that removed penalties for a pair of safety standards the union claims are crucial to steel workers' safety.
"We were shocked and disappointed that OSHA would issue compliance directives that remove safety provisions for the steel erection industry," District Council of Iron Workers President Joe Standley said. "These compliance directives continue to be a source of regulatory confusion, costly job site delays and unnecessary litigation."
Source:REVIEW-JOURNAL
Click here to add text.
Small crane tips over at CityCenter, injures operator and stops traffic on the Strip
By Mary Manning · June 13, 2008
Crane buckles at CityCenter
Safety officials investigating string of accidents that killed six on site June 13, 2008
Construction worker dies at Strip project
June 16, 2008 · # 12
A veteran carpenter died Monday morning at the Echelon construction site on the Las Vegas Strip.
He is Lyndal Bates, 49, of Tempe, Ariz. Authorities confirmed Monday afternoon after his family had been notified.
Source: Las Vegas Sun
Five minutes to save lives
CONSTRUCTION WORKER DEATHS ON THE STRIP:
Tue, Jun 24, 2008
Relative of fall victim has so much to say to House panel, so little time
A lot rides on George Cole’s five once-in-a-lifetime minutes. It’s a chance to educate lawmakers and the public about what Cole, with 42 years of ironwork experience in Las Vegas, thinks needs to be changed to make construction safer.
Source: Las Vegas Sun
Las Vegas Construction Workers Memorial Site
In Memory of Those Las Vegas Construction Workers who Lost Their Lives at
MGM Mirage Dubai World CityCenter and other Las Vegas Construction sites
OSHA Oversight in Question
CONSTRUCTION WORKER DEATHS ON THE STRIP: House committee testimony ‘raises very, very serious’ concern at state, federal levels
6/26/08
Source: Las Vegas Sun
Rep. Shelley Berkley of Nevada asks questions Tuesday in Washington, D.C., during a House of Representatives hearing on whether Nevada OSHA is failing to adequately enforce construction safety rules. The hearing focused on a death at the CityCenter project in October.
Retired ironworker, federal OSHA chief respond to lawmakers
SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun 6/25/08
Construction Safety Hearing:
Chairman George Miller
Iron Worker Says OSHA’s Safety Failure Behind Brother-in-Law’s Fall to Death
Jun 25, 2008
George Cole, a retired Iron Workers member who spent 42 years on construction job sites, told a congressional hearing yesterday that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) “failure to enforce safety standards” is likely what killed his brother-in-law in a fall at a troubled Las Vegas construction site.
The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee hearing probed whether OSHA is doing all it can to protect construction workers—including strong enforcement of the safety rules on the books and development of new workplace safety standards.
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Construction Safety Hearing:
Lynn Woolsey
Construction Safety Hearing:
Robert LiMandri
Safety has gotten attention — Slowly
CONSTRUCTION WORKER DEATHS ON THE STRIP:
Lawmakers, UNIONS, Nevada OSHA increasingly regard it as essential issue
More than a month ago, a sister of Harold Billingsley, the construction worker whose death was highlighted in a congressional hearing this week, e-mailed her three Nevada representatives in Washington to remind them about regulatory issues surrounding the fatality. The response was less than enthusiastic.
Source: Las Vegas Sun 6/26/08
Locals leaders urge fix of “broken” construction safety system
At a sparsely attended roundtable discussion Saturday, local community leaders said they want to fix what they termed a "broken" system for construction safety.
"Workers compensation is broken. Nevada OSHA is broken. Our budget is broken," said Steve Ross, head of the Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council and Las Vegas city council member. "We are never going to remove accidents completely from any of these job sites. But a majority of the accidents that have happened here in Southern Nevada are preventable."
Source: Las Vegas Sun June 28, 2008
CONSTRUCTION WORKER DEATHS ON THE STRIP:
OSHA a no-show at safety session
City, county officials plan to look at role they can play
Mon, Jun 30, 2008
Construction worker safety
It took 12 deaths, a massive worker protest and a hearing on Capitol Hill to bring about Saturday’s meeting at the Clark County Government Center.
The idea was to get policymakers and “stakeholders” together to examine worker safety on the Las Vegas Strip.
One big problem: A lot of those key groups either were glaringly absent or didn’t speak up — notably CityCenter owner MGM Mirage, its general contractor Perini Building Co. and Nevada’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which oversees and enforces workplace safety laws. Plus, state legislators wanting to attend were stuck in Carson City for the special legislative session.
That disappointed organizers.
Source : Las Vegas Sun
Union turns a worried eye on construction cranes AFL-CIO to ask Legislature to reform already strict laws
Source: Las Vegas Sun 6/30/08
State deal in deaths at Orleans questioned
A former federal OSHA official said a draft of the results from an investigation into Nevada's OSHA calls into question the use of state resources to provide training and consultation services to Boyd Gaming Corp., owner of the Orleans.
Two Workers Injured at MGM Mirage CityCenter Site
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Two workers have been injured in another construction accident at the Project CityCenter. It happened shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday at the site of the multi-billion dollar resort complex on the Strip. The workers reportedly fell 22 feet from a scissor lift. Both were conscious as medics responded, but complained of pain and back injuries. They were taken to UMC. The injuries are not considered life-threatening. The cause of the accident is under investigation. A total of six workers have died at the CityCenter site since construction began in 2006. The $9.1 billion complex, built by MGM Mirage, is scheduled to open in 2010.
Source: News Radio 840 KNXT
On 2/2/07 at the Orleans Casino, Las Vegas, NV, 2 men, Travis Koehler and Richard Luzier, were killed in a workplace "accident". One survivor, David Snow, nearly died as well. He spent 3 weeks on life support at UMC's Trauma Center and 6 weeks total in the hospital. Richard, the plumber, was allegedly ordered to work in a grease pit on a clogged pipe. When methane and hydrogen sulfide gases released and knocked him unconscious both Travis and Dave were allegedly ordered into the pit by their supervisors to help Richard. This account is contradicted by the supervisors version of what happened according to the OSHA report.
Boyd Gaming was fined on 8/21/07 for 9 serious violations, totaling $185,000. They were able to negotiate with OSHA to reduce what were initially called serious, repeat and willful violations to merely serious violations.
Please take a look at the pictures of David Snow: intubated, on life support, strapped into a rotating bed to keep his lungs working. He spent over 3 weeks in this condition. His wife, family and friends spent those weeks at his side not sure if he was going to live or not. He spent nearly 7 weeks total in the hospital. He has had two surgeries related to his injuries. He has permanent problems from his injuries.
Safety wasn't in the equation
Six workers have died at CityCenter, and three more have lost their lives at other local Perini projects. Still, commissioners picked the company to build McCarran’s new terminal
Source: Las Vegas Sun Sat, Jul 19, 2008
