Allegiant Stadium builder facing $13,494 OSHA fine

The joint venture in charge of construction at the $2 billion Allegiant Stadium is facing a fine for a “serious” violation by Nevada regulators.

On June 23, the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration levied a $13,494 fine on Mortenson-McCarthy for the unnamed violation.

The amount of fine is the maximum penalty for a serious OSHA violation. Repeat violators can face a fine of $134,937 for each violation.

Mortenson-McCarthy disputes OSHA’s findings and fine and has formally contested them.

“Mortenson/McCarthy is committed to complying with all health and safety regulations, and we stand by our strong safety record on the Allegiant Stadium project,” it said in a statement. “Our team has actively communicated and diligently enforced evolving Nevada OSHA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requirements with our project partners and up to 2000 workers on site each day. Our team has continued to make changes and adjustments as needed or identified in an effort to protect everyone on the project.”

A report from OSHA provided details of the violation, detailing two incidents regarding lack of social distancing amid strict coronavirus protocols put in place by the state. The report also included 35 photos detailing various times people were working in close proximity to each other.

On April 2, OSHA noted employees at the site were not abiding by the 6 feet minimum social distancing requirement, noting that two 65-foot boom lifts were operating, each of which had three men per basket in violation of the two-person-per-basket regulation.

Additionally, 30 employees were seen working in very close proximity doing concrete-related work, possibly laying rebar, in one corner of the work site.

“The project is reportedly taking the temperature of every employee prior to them entering the site,” the report stated. “However, there are 2600 workers on the job, and it is not reasonable to think that they are maintaining 6 feet of social distance while lining up to enter the job site.”

Then, on April 15, five workers were observed not following the distance protocols on the stadium site.

Mortenson-McCarthy has reported dozens of stadium workers have been infected with COVID-19, with the Southern Nevada Health Department holding targeted coronavirus testing on site in May to aid its contract tracing efforts.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.