By Alexandra Berzon (contact)

Published Wed, Aug 20, 2008 (7 a.m.)

Updated Wed, Aug 20, 2008 (10:17 a.m.)

A 36-year old construction worker was injured Wednesday morning at CityCenter when a heavy piece of sheetmetal fell on his neck and shoulders.

The employee, a sheetmetal worker, was conscious and alert as he was taken away to UMC hospital, said company and fire department officials. His injuries are not believed to be life threatening.

Paramedics reported to the massive construction project just before 6:30 a.m.

The worker was helping to attach a large metal enclosure for an air conditioning unit (known as a “dog house”) when the piece of metal, weighing 200 to 300 pounds, came down on him.

The entire air conditioning unit did not fall on him, as earlier news reports indicated, officials said.

Doug Mure, a spokesman for CityCenter general contractor Perini Building Company, said the company does not know why the metal fell. The company will conduct its own investigation into the accident. He does not believe the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be called into investigate because the accident is not serious enough to warrant that.

“My latest information is that he had a bruised shoulder and will be kept at the hospital for observation, but it wasn’t a serious accident,” Mure said Wednesday morning.

Six workers have died and numerous more have been injured on the $9.2 billion MGM Mirage CityCenter project since work there began. In June, workers staged a one-day walkout to protest what they say are unsafe conditions on the site.