Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Windows were shattered at the Encore on Thursday after scaffolding struck the resort and two workers were whipped in high winds.
Published Thursday, March 26, 2009 | 10:10 a.m.
Updated Thursday, March 26, 2009 | 4:25 p.m.
Related story
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating a Thursday morning accident at the Encore in which two workers were on a scaffold that swung in gusty winds and crashed through the resort's windows.
A spokeswoman at Las Vegas OSHA confirmed the investigation but would not give further details.
The two workers were rescued after a cable broke on their scaffolding and gusty winds whipped them into the side of the resort as they did routine maintenance on the outside of the windows on the 15th floor.
One man was taken to a local hospital for treatment of cuts and bruises, said Scott Allison, spokesman for the Clark County Fire Department. The second man was treated at the scene by emergency paramedics.
Clark County firefighters were called at about 9:15 a.m. to the Las Vegas Strip resort, where two workers were blowing in the wind in their harnesses that strapped them into the scaffolding, Allison said.
One cable on the scaffolding had broken, sending the platform swaying 40 feet out from where the employees of a subcontractor were working on the 15th floor on the building's south side, Allison said. The scaffolding broke windows as it slammed into the resort, he said.
Firefighters had to go to the 15th floor and break windows to secure the scaffolding and rescue the men, Allison said.
The accident broke 15 windows on the 15th floor, said Jennifer Dunne, vice president of public relations and advertising for Encore.
No guests were injured when the windows crashed and all guests have been moved to other rooms, Dunne said.
The National Weather Service had issued a high wind advisory for Southern Nevada as a cold front brought 30 to 40 mph winds with stronger gusts.
When asked why workers had been sent to work in windy conditions, Allison said, "That's one thing we don't know."
The scaffold has been secured to the side of the Encore and firefighters will wait to remove it until the winds subside, he said.
Allison did not know which company employed the workers.
Clay Kidd of American Glass, a company which has been cleaning high-rise buildings in Las Vegas for 30 years, said such companies typically "pull everything up when winds reach 20 mph."
Other window washing companies contacted by the Sun said high-rise workers follow OSHA safety features that include anchors for their perches, protection during a fall, training to assist fellow workers in case of a fall and scaffolding that can support 5,000 pounds, among other standards.
i wanna work for that manager who has his employess safety at heart
Hey, Steve wants clean windows
Poor job of reporting here, it leaves more questions to be asked.
1) Were the workers being paid extra for hazardous conditions?
2) Did the company that employed the workers know there were hazardous conditions?
3) Did the workers know the conditions were hazardous?
4) Did Encore management know about hazardous conditions and that workers were present?
And so on. There is plenty of blame and stupidity to go around on this one. Someone should be required to pay the cost of the rescue, and it shouldn't be the taxpayer.
Room rates just went up.
I don't understand why the windows have to be perfectly clean. Anything, whether it's grime or smudge marks, that obscures the view of the ghastly Venetian is a good thing.
Love the Media, you never get the facts right:
They're not window washers, they work for the company that installed the glass at Encore. I'm sure with your resources you can figure that one out. Ironically replacing glass
You would think there would be an automatic system to do this on newer buildings.
What idiot would send window washers out in high winds (and wind warnings) to clean windows 600 feet up on the building.
Bigone, where in the story does it state they are window washers? Nowhere.
Learn to read.
@revbobdobbs To the right of the first sentence of the article, above the photo, it says "window washers injured".
Just to clarify, early reports from the fire department this morning as this story broke were that the two workers were washing windows. As the story developed we learned the injured men were doing routine maintenance on the building. The story was updated several times today with this and other information as it became available. I hope that helps.
the winds probably picked up out of no where. happens all the time. it's calm one minute and then the next it's blowing like crazy.
Thank you guys all comments, like the free big money coming in my packet.
Based on the fact that employees are not allowed to use powered platforms during such adverse conditions (any wind velocity over 25 mph), and on the fact that OSHA has previously issued instruction on this subject, OSHA Instruction STD 1-3.3, dated November 1, 1982 (copy enclosed), OSHA has reevaluated the above interpretation in light of both the facts mentioned earlier, and of information submitted by various consulting engineers questioning OSHA's interpretation.
The design load for intermittent stabilization system or its components need not consider such an adverse condition (i.e 100 mph wind speed). However, at wind velocity of approximately 75 mph, which is a velocity that was considered in the development of the OSHA Instruction STD 1-3.3, and which is also an adverse condition with a wind velocity three times the limit for allowable working conditions, the load from this wind would be approximately 150 pounds. When a safety factor of four is applied, as required under the OSHA standard at 1910.66(e)(2)(ii)(A)(5), the minimum ultimate design load for these components is 600 pounds. If two anchors share the wind loading, the ultimate design load for each anchor is 300 pounds. However, if the loading is not shared, the ultimate design load for each anchor is 600 pounds.