In case after case, the state has dropped or sharply reduced fines and penalties proposed by investigators, just as it did in the Orleans case. To some critics, the handling of the accidents has sent a message to the construction and gaming industries that they can disregard safety rules with near impunity.
The concern comes amid a building boom unlike anything in the city's history. The Las Vegas area has $31 billion of construction underway and another $25 billion in the planning stages, according to Applied Analysis, an economic research company.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, August 02, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 76 words Type of Material: Correction
Las Vegas building accidents: An article in Monday's Section A about a deadly streak of construction and building accidents in Las Vegas said that D. Roger Bremner, director of the Nevada Division of Industrial Relations, met with Boyd Gaming officials and reduced the severity of proposed workplace safety citations after an accident killed two workers at the company's Orleans Hotel and Casino. Bremner said he made the decision but did not meet with the company's officials.
MGM Mirage is building the $9-billion CityCenter project with six hotel and condo towers, billed as the nation's largest privately funded construction project.
But the frenetic pace has led to a spate of fatal accidents.
Until 2006, Nevada had a fatal accident rate in construction slightly higher than the national average of 12.3 per hundred thousand, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the 12 recent deaths could drive the state's rate up when the 2007 numbers are computed.
As the problems in Nevada have unfolded, unions have walked off the job in protest. The U.S. Labor Department has sent a team to examine the state OSHA program. The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee is investigating. The Las Vegas Sun published a series of stories detailing a pattern of safety problems and lax enforcement.
And the Nevada Attorney General's Office is conducting its own ethics probe into the conduct of Elliott and Bremner. Conrad Hafen, chief deputy attorney general, said his department would not comment on its ongoing investigation.
The gaming industry doesn't like the image. Alan Feldman, senior vice president of public affairs at MGM Mirage, said the safety record was not satisfactory. At MGM's CityCenter project, six workers have died, and the company has expanded its safety program with its general contractor, Perini Building Co., he said.
Union leaders say the fault lies with Nevada OSHA.
"It is a broken system," said Steven D. Ross, secretary-treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council and a Las Vegas city councilman. "We are concerned about the lack of oversight by Nevada OSHA."
In the Orleans case, state OSHA documents show that on Aug. 7, 2007, Boyd officials were told they would receive willful, repeat and serious citations for the Feb. 2, 2007 accident. Investigators recommended that Boyd pay a $433,500 fine, according to internal OSHA documents.
