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No one hurt as slabs fall at construction site

Three large concrete slabs fell in a chain-reaction accident Monday morning at Fontainebleau Las Vegas less than a week after a construction worker fell to his death at the site.

No one was hurt in Monday's incident, but Clark County Fire Department spokesman Scott Allison said workers on the steel beam parking garage were fortunate considering the weight of the slabs, which measure 60 feet long by 9 feet wide.

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  • "If someone would have been under these, there surely would have been a death," Allison said. "We were very lucky."

    Firefighters rushed to the scene on the Strip and Riviera Boulevard about 10:25 a.m. after a slab on an upper floor of the parking garage fell, crashing onto the floor below and knocking that slab into the next floor, which also fell. The three slabs tumbled to the ground level in a heap of rubble.

    Unsure whether anyone was trapped, dozens of firefighters responded, including heavy rescue teams trained to get people out of collapsed buildings.

    "Unfortunately in our business you automatically think the worst," Allison said. "If there had been somebody trapped, if there had been somebody injured, we would have been totally prepared."

    Crew supervisors conducted a head count of the workers on the site and accounted for everyone. By 11:30 a.m. officials had determined no one was injured during the collapse.

    In a statement released through Rogich Communications, Fontainebleau said it was thankful no one was hurt. Construction on the garage has been halted until an investigation into the accident is done.

    "The more construction we have, the more of these kinds of accidents we're going to see," Allison said.

    The Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration was investigating Monday's incident and Thursday's death of the worker who fell.

    Norvin Tsosie, 36, died after he and two other workers fell from a 30-foot-high wall on a different part of the construction site. All three workers wore safety harnesses.

    Two fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries, but Tsosie's harness failed and he fell into a 10-foot-deep hole. He died later that day at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

    General contractor Turnberry West Construction started work at Fontainebleau Las Vegas in February. Slated to open in late 2009, the $2.9 billion Fontainebleau Las Vegas is to have 3,889 rooms and tower 63 stories over the Strip.



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    Glenda Rose wrote on August 30, 2007 01:30 PM: Safety is not a big issue on these jobs. These men are being ordered to perform tasks that are unsafe and known to be unsafe in an effort to save time. Yes there is a shortage of workers but the companies are all to eager to pull in new hands from the halls if workers do not comply. Foreman, General Foreman and Superintendents stand by and watch these men being ordered to do things that put their lives in direct danger. It is disturbing to me that these "higher ups" seem to forget safety once they themselves are out of harms way. Norvin had children. He was loved and needed. This "accident" was preventable. I would like to invite his superiors to explain to me why I no longer have the man I was to grow old with, in my life. Why he will never see his children and grandchildren again. Come to me and explain to me what was so important that he be up on that wall and not in a man basket. Tell me how this is going to be "OK". Tell me how to go on with life and understand such a senseless accident.


    Safety Expert wrote on August 07, 2007 04:44 AM: Safety will continue to be compromised as long as the Strip is booming. The labor shortage has forced the unions to take advantage of the housing slowdown for manpower. Untrained housing workers are put in peril daily, and it will get worse before it gets better, as the unions and contractors point fingers at one another and exclaim...."We're NOT responsible for Safety Training....YOU are !" In the meantime, if you are one of these workers, buy Life Insurance NOW.