Wed, Jun 11, 2008 (2:07 a.m.)

Members and leaders of the ironworkers union chose an opportune day to dress down the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration over a safety issue that emerged after several fatal accidents at Las Vegas Strip construction sites.

They chose Monday to excoriate the federal agency’s relaxation of a rule that for years mandated workers on high-rise projects be protected by safety nets or temporary flooring in case they fell.

The day was chosen because OSHA’s federal director, Ed Foulke, was in town to address the American Society of Safety Engineers and to meet with representatives of companies currently engaged in Strip construction.

“We are outraged by news that Mr. Foulke would come to Las Vegas to pontificate about fatalities and workplace safety matters when he has refused to rescind OSHA compliance directives that have been the center of controversy,” Joe Standley, president of the Western District Council of Ironworkers, told Las Vegas Sun reporter Alexandra Berzon.

Such passion among union officials became more common following the start in March of Berzon’s ongoing series of articles on construction safety. Her opening story reported on the recent deaths of nine workers (two more workers have since been killed) at Strip construction sites, including two who might have been saved had netting or flooring been installed beneath them.

Part of her reporting included the shocking fact that federal OSHA has been undermining safety regulations over the years, including the one requiring protective flooring or nets at all times during high-rise construction. In this revision, it ruled that it would no longer enforce the netting/flooring rule if workers were required to wear safety harnesses.

Many contractors, including those on the Strip sites, then stopped installing them. But harnesses are not always properly secured or even worn, as Berzon has pointed out.

The state agency charged with occupational safety — Nevada OSHA — had followed the new federal standard — until last week. With local contractors agreeing not to protest, and under pressure from the ironworkers, the state agency announced it would once again begin enforcing the original rule, beginning Aug. 1.

We agree with the ironworkers union, whose leaders have told Berzon that they believe OSHA’s relaxation of the rule led to a sharp increase in worker deaths nationwide in recent years.

The federal OSHA should immediately rescind its reinterpretation of the flooring/netting rule. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says “falls from elevations” are one of the leading causes of death among construction workers. It is indeed outrageous that any rule protecting them would be watered down.