Las Vegas Sun

May 12, 2008

Topic:

Construction Deaths

Harold

Photo by Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun

Harold "Rusty" Billingsley's hard hat and work boots are reminders of the job that led to the ironworker's death Oct. 5 while working on CityCenter.

 

Las Vegas has always flourished through growth. But never before has booming construction on the Strip taken such a toll in lives.

Construction deaths over the past 16 months exceed the total reported for the entire 1990s building boom.

National safety experts are alarmed.

They say contractors are taking too many shortcuts and Nevada agencies are lax in oversight.

Workers say they feel unsafe on rushed and crowded construction sites. But state safety officials and union locals say the workers themselves are to blame.

This page features the Sun's series, which includes stories, a video, an interactive and documents from OSHA concerning the deaths, plus follow-up stories.

Archive highlights

A CAUTIOUS PUSH

Sun, Apr 13, 2008

The 70-odd ironworkers working at the Fontainebleau construction site were fed up with dangerous conditions. In July, they stopped working in the unsafe areas and persuaded their union, Irownworkers Local ...

Pace is the new peril

Sun, Mar 30, 2008

In the shadows of the cranes, steel and concrete upon which Las Vegas has pinned its addiction to growth, a body count has emerged. Nine construction workers have died in ...

OSHA goes easy

Mon, Mar 31, 2008

Hundreds of construction workers signed a 10-foot long memorial poster for the family of Harold Billingsley after the 46-year-old ironworker plunged to his death at CityCenter last year. Four months ...

'Not in this city'

Tue, Apr 1, 2008

The disturbing rash of worker deaths at casinos, condos and hotels being built along the Strip raises safety issues that must be addressed, safety engineers and others say. But making ...

All stories

Keeping the heat on OSHA

Sun, May 11, 2008

Citing the deaths of 10 workers on the Las Vegas Strip, a House panel will hold a hearing to review construction safety standards and the conduct of government agencies responsible ...

OSHA needs help

Tue, May 6, 2008

The deaths of 10 construction workers on the Strip since November 2006 have led to this question.

On safety, we could learn from NYC

Sun, May 4, 2008

Two months ago, after a string of tragic construction fatalities shook New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave an address to the city’s building inspectors.

Local government safety role to get a look

Fri, May 2, 2008

Two leading Southern Nevada elected officials said Thursday they want to bring together developers, building contractors, workers and state and local officials to find ways to improve safety following a ...

Lax safety oversight is paid notice on the Hill

Wed, Apr 30, 2008

Labor experts told a U.S. Senate committee Tuesday that weak government oversight of workplace safety is putting workers at greater risk and contributing to on-the-job fatalities, including in Las Vegas.

Mystery surrounds CityCenter fatality

Tue, Apr 29, 2008

Electrician Mark Wescoat, 47, of New Jersey fell to his death at MGM Mirage’s CityCenter work site Saturday. Nine other workers have died in construction accidents in Strip building projects, ...

Orleans case sparks investigation

Fri, Apr 25, 2008

The Nevada attorney general’s office has opened an investigation into the state Business and Industry Department’s handling of a case involving the deaths of two workers at the Orleans, the ...

Higher profile for safety

Wed, Apr 23, 2008

The state agency that investigates safety on the job released a report Monday showing that it did not waver from its original findings after the Jan. 14 death of a ...

A stricter OSHA seen after Sun series

Tue, Apr 22, 2008

Most recently, the agency did not back down from its recommended citations against a subcontractor in connection with the death at the Cosmopolitan of a safety engineer. A subcontractor, Reliable ...

Influenced, OSHA bends

Fri, Apr 18, 2008

The reduction removed a tough but rare finding of willful disregard for safety that would have permanently marred the record of the owner of the Orleans, Boyd Gaming Corp., and ...

A CAUTIOUS PUSH

Sun, Apr 13, 2008

The 70-odd ironworkers working at the Fontainebleau construction site were fed up with dangerous conditions. In July, they stopped working in the unsafe areas and persuaded their union, Irownworkers Local ...

Union demands safety upgrade

Wed, Apr 9, 2008

The Las Vegas Ironworkers Union is asking Nevada safety regulators to require contractors to provide netting or temporary flooring of the kind that could have saved two workers who fell ...

In fatalities, union to meet with OSHA

Sat, Apr 5, 2008

With tensions over construction worker deaths along the Strip surfacing, about 200 ironworkers filled their union hall Friday night to discuss how to improve workplace safety. By meeting’s end, there ...

Ironworkers want stronger union action

Thu, Apr 3, 2008

Members of Ironworkers Union Local 433 and friends and relatives of some accident victims say the union leadership isn’t fighting hard enough to ensure safety at Strip building sites.

OSHA up for rare inquiry

Wed, Apr 2, 2008

Nevada lawmakers said Tuesday they expect the Legislature will hold hearings on safety lapses involved in deaths at Strip construction sites and on the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s ...

Documents

The case of Willie Pelayo

General laborer foreman Willie Pelayo rode a malfunctioning buggy into an elevator shaft and was killed at Trump Dec. 5, 2006. OSHA initiated a two-month long investigation and issued a report that involved extensive documentation, including photographs and a complete evaluation of the buggy.

Here are some of the documents involved in the case:

Videos

Cost of Expansion
Cost of Expansion
In the shadows of the cranes, steel, and concrete upon which Las Vegas has pinned ...

Slideshows

Construction Deaths
In the shadows of the cranes, steel, and concrete upon which Las Vegas has pinned ...
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