Nevada: Builders, labor groups push for stronger safety protections

Labor organizations and construction companies are working together to urge state lawmakers to enact more stringent workplace safety standards.

The call for safety resulted in the introduction of Assembly Bill 148, sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas. The legislation would require construction workers to receive at least 10 hours of safety training. In addition, supervisors would need to obtain certification that they completed the specified 30-hour health and safety course no later than 60 days after commencing work on a construction site. Employers would be required to terminate workers who fail to obtain the required certification.

Advocates for the legislation, including the AFL-CIO, say that additional safety training is necessary to halt the rising number of construction-related fatalities in the state. In Las Vegas, a dozen workers have been killed on construction sites in the past 18 months. Specifically, six workers died at MGM Mirage's $9.2 billion CityCenter project, and two died at the adjacent $3.5 billion Cosmopolitan between February 2007 and June 2008.

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Perini Building Co., the general contractor for the CityCenter project, supports the legislation.

April 27, 2009

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