Survey addresses lack of safety in Las Vegas construction

The National Safety Council released a special edition of its Journal of Safety Research with a concentration on the construction industry, which includes a research-based case study about the eight construction-related deaths occurring within 18 months back in 2008. The deaths occurred at the largest commercial construction project in the US and the CityCenter and Cosmopolitan Towers in Las Vegas.

The survey identified several issues at CityCenter in 2008, including:

“A lack of management action,” referred to by 27.8 percent of those surveyed and referring to a lack of appropriate monitoring, enforcement, or action regarding safety and an emphasis on productivity — the tight work schedule and crowded working conditions — over safety on the part of management.

The “presence of health hazards,” which covers a variety of health-related issues such as toxic dust, lack of ventilation, issues with the heat, a lack of access to water and reasonably clean restroom facilities. This was mentioned by 13.5 percent of the respondents.

“Unsafe procedures,” mentioned by 10.2 percent of those surveyed, which primarily focused on actions by fellow employees.

The study also continued, “The large number of workers who specifically mentioned problems with ventilation, heat, lack of water, inadequate bathrooms and toxic dust in the air led us to conclude that these health concerns were a pervasive problem on these job sites and not simply the complaints of a few workers. Additionally, many workers mentioned that their work areas were overcrowded, which is consistent with the survey results indicating safety problems due to interferences between different trades on the same site.”

The National Safety Council, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Center for Construction Research and Training, and Construction Safety Council collaborated for the special edition report. According to the report, more than 1,000 construction site deaths occur in the US each year.

Photo courtesy of Bonita R. Cheshier