Worker on U.S. 95 project injured

Stephen Curran

Thursday, Sept. 15, 2005 | 11:15 a.m.

A construction worker was taken to University Medical Center on Wednesday morning after a heavy-duty pipe rolled over his leg, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue personnel said.

Paramedics responded to the incident, which occurred at a bridge construction site near U.S. 95 and Durango Drive, about 7 this morning. The man, whose name and age were not released, was not trapped under the pipes and the extent of his injuries was unclear, Tim Szymanski, a spokesman for the fire department, said.

Television footage showed the man being carried a short distance on a low-flying helicopter before being loaded into an ambulance. Szymanski, who said he was not at the scene, said helicopters are sometimes used to carry patients a short distance if they are unreachable by ambulance.

The bridge is part of a $12 million state Transportation Department project extending Elkhorn Avenue over U.S. 95. The worker is employed by Frehner Construction, the firm contracted for the project, Transportation Department spokesman Bob McKenzie said.

An employee in Frehner's safety office said she did not know if the incident had been turned over to OSHA or if the injured man worked directly for the company.

Tom Czehowski, chief administrative officer for Nevada OSHA, said he was out of town Wednesday and did not know of the incident or whether the agency would open an investigation. He told the Sun in May that OSHA typically investigates incidents that involve fatalities or injure three or more workers. That means the agency may not have been notified of Wednesday's accident.

A similar incident left a Contri Construction worker injured in May after he fell 12 feet into a concrete water vault on Windmill Lane near Buffalo Drive. Rescue personnel said the man fell into the vault -- designed to allow construction workers to access pipes or other facilities -- and suffered injuries to this spine, neck and upper back.

Czehowski told the Sun then that OSHA was unlikely to investigate that incident.

The state Division of Industrial Relations, which compiles statistics for OSHA, reported 61 work-related fatalities last year. Of those, 15 were reported at construction sites, according to the division's Web site.

OSHA Nevada investigated 23 total worksite fatalities in fiscal year 2005, 15 of which occurred in Clark County, Czehowski said last month.