The Associated Press

Thu, Oct 2, 2008 (10:06 a.m.)

Nevada workplace safety officials say the June 16 death of a construction worker at a Las Vegas Strip resulted from a contractor rushing to build the casino complex.

The Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration says the foreman supervising 49-year-old Lyndal Bates pushed employees to work at unsafe speeds in building Boyd Gaming Corp.'s Echelon resort.

OSHA says the work pace deviated from written procedures of contractor Marnell Corrao Associates.

Bates was a carpenter. He died after mistakenly attaching his safety harness to a piece of scaffolding he was tearing down in a hotel basement. When he threw the scaffolding down, he went with it, falling 13 feet and landing on his head.

Marnell has been fined $11,000 for five violations. The company is appealing.