Feds: Nevada workplace safety woefully lacking

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Nevada's workplace safety program is marred by poorly trained investigators and lackadaisical procedures and is in "urgent" need of oversight corrections, according to a federal report released Tuesday.

The 80-page report issued by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration identified "a number of systemic issues that caused great concern" within the state OSHA program.

Among them are inspectors with "limited knowledge" of construction safety hazards, lack of follow-up investigations and failure to issue citations for willful and repeat workplace safety violations.

The federal review was launched after 25 construction workers in Nevada, many on high-rise projects along the Las Vegas Strip, were killed from January 2008 through June 2009.

"The comprehensive evaluation of the Nevada OSHA plan points to an urgent need for corrections in oversight and changes in all phases of its workplace safety and health program," the report said.

Nevada officials planned a news conference later in the day to address the report's findings.

This summer, OSHA monitors evaluated Nevada's investigations into the Las Vegas construction deaths, as well all state OSHA inspections during the same period.

Regarding the deaths, the federal report said families of deceased workers were not notified of the death investigations or given an opportunity to speak with inspectors, "though family members may provide information pertinent to a case and Nevada OSHA investigators demonstrated limited knowledge of construction safety hazards."

Jordan Barab, acting assistant OSHA secretary in Washington, D.C., said the agency plans to strengthen oversight, monitoring and evaluation of all state programs in light of the deficiencies discovered by the Nevada review.