Monday, January 31, 2011

Las Vegas Review-Journal investigates unresolved death of stagehand

We all know that it takes time for incident reports to be processed and published, however, this has come to a frustrating end for the mother of stagehand and UNLV student Vicente Rodriguez after he died on May 20, 2009.  Rodriguez was killed when he fell about 40 feet from the attic structure of the Hollywood Theatre in the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

Due to state regulations and a mis-handled investigation, the worker's family probably will not receive any compensation, or even apologetic acknowledgement, for the preventable death.  In a very revealing video interview and well-researched article by Las Vegas Review-Journal writer Joan Whitely, it becomes painfully obvious that the deck is stacked against workers in Nevada when it comes to safety and the enforcement of safety regulations.  The article and video can be found here:
http://www.lvrj.com/news/osha-not-reviewing-death-of-stagehand-114707049.html?

The article also includes a link to a a well-presented graphic that depicts the scenario that lead to the fatal fall.  The graphic can be downloaded as a PDF.  Take this opportunity to share this information with your staff, students, and co-workers so that they might all learn how this tragedy occurred and don't place ourselves or others in this type of situation.

Fall protection gear only works if the users have been properly trained in the application of the equipment.