Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Construction worker rescued from underground water vault

A 31-year-old construction worker was injured on Thursday when he fell 12 feet into a concrete water vault on Windmill Lane near Buffalo Drive, marking the second construction-related accident this week.

The construction worker, whose identity was not released, was rescued from the water vault by the Clark County Fire Department's technical rescue team and was taken by helicopter to the University Medical Center Trauma Center.

The worker, employed by Contri Construction, sustained injuries to his spine, neck and upper back but was in stable condition, said Jeff Ruby, captain of the fire department's technical rescue team.

Ruby said the worker apparently fell into the 2 1/2-diameter entrance of the water vault at 11:30 a.m. and was pulled out about 45 minutes later. The vault allows construction workers or others to access pipes or other facilities, he said.

"Construction is a dangerous industry -- this happens," he said, adding that he considered the fall an accident.

Despite the death on Tuesday of paving worker David Strambaugh, who was killed when he was hit by a dump truck, Ruby said the Clark County Fire Department has not seen an increase in the number of construction-related rescues it is responding to.

Tim Szymanski, spokesman for the Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, also said his department has not seen an increase in the number of responses to serious construction-related accidents that would involve heavy rescue.

According to Nevada OSHA, the number of construction-related fatalities has decreased during state fiscal year 2005, which ends in July.

Since July 1, Nevada OSHA investigated 19 fatalities on work sites, with seven of those fatalities in the construction trade, said Tom Czehowski, chief administration officer for Nevada OSHA.

The remaining 12 cases involved "general industry" fatalities, such as a stagehand who fell to his death from scaffolding, or a home inspector who fell through a roof, Czehowski said.

In state fiscal year 2004, Nevada OSHA investigated 26 fatalities, which included 11 in the construction trade, he said. OSHA investigated 18 fatalities in state fiscal year 2003, including eight in the construction trade, he said.

Czehowski could not comment in detail about the decline in fatalities, saying only that perhaps better education and training could have led to a decrease.

Nevada OSHA had not yet been informed in the accident at Windmill Lane, he said.

Employers are required to report incidents to Nevada OSHA if there is a fatality or if three or more workers are injured and hospitalized, Czehowski said. Because of this, Nevada OSHA likely would not be informed of an incident such as Thursday's accident, and therefore wouldn't investigate it.

Don Davis, president of Contri Construction, said the safety staff of the company was looking into the incident and couldn't comment on whether the incident would be reported to Nevada OSHA until he viewed the report.

"We have a really good safety record," he said. "We've had no accidents in the past like this."

According to an OSHA report, Contri Construction has received one citation since Feb. 2, 2002.

According to the report, a company can be cited for four violations: serious, willful, repeat or other.

The citation issued to Contri Construction on Dec. 5, 2003 is listed as "other," according to the OSHA report. The company was fined $350, according to the report.

Although no details of the violation were available in the OSHA report, Czehowski said that violations listed as "other" are likely not serious, and could have been a construction crew leaving debris at the head of a stairway. He said this by way of example.

David said he could not recall why the company was cited in December 2003 and declined to comment further.

Since Feb. 2, 2002, OSHA had been called to inspect a Contri Construction site in Las Vegas or Henderson six times, most recently on April 27, according to OSHA reports. OSHA cited Contri Construction for one violation -- the December 2003 incident -- during the six times it was called to work sites.

In addition, OSHA had also performed routine inspections of the company three times, according to OSHA records. No violations were found during those inspections.

Contri Construction is contracted by the Las Vegas Water District to install the Windmill Lane water line for a nearby housing subdivision, said Roger Buehrer, spokesman for the Las Vegas Valley Water District. He said the project is scheduled to be completed in July but could not provide any more details.

"Until the project is turned over to us, it's their's," Buehrer said.

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