Worker dies at Las Vegas building site

A 50-year-old carpenter died Monday after a fall, the 12th construction worker to die since January 2007 at a Las Vegas Strip construction project, authorities said.

The worker was dismantling scaffolding when he fell about 15 feet and landed on his head on the site of Boyd Gaming Corp.’s Echelon resort, Assistant Clark County Fire Chief Russ Cameron said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The worker’s name was not immediately made public.

Boyd Gaming said in a joint statement with contractors Marnell Corrao Associates and Tishman Construction that the companies were cooperating with an investigation by the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Work was suspended for the day at the site.

Elisabeth Shurtleff, a spokeswoman for Nevada OSHA and the state Department of Business and Industry, called it too early to describe the results of a probe of Monday’s death by state investigators.

Twelve workers have died on Las Vegas Strip projects in the last 18 months, according to Shurtleff and Steve Redlinger, spokesman for the Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council.

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons recently called in federal safety officials to help state inspectors complete a review of MGM Mirage Inc.’s CityCenter project, where six workers have died. Workers at the site staged a one-day walkout this month, demanding better safety from the site’s general contractor, Perini Building Co.

Boyd Gaming spokesman Rob Stillwell said Monday’s death was the first at the Echelon complex. The $4.8-billion, 87-acre resort is due to open in 2010.