Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Photo: Workers at Dam; Triple Tragedies

This silhouette of a bronze statute against the late afternoon sky is a memorial to the workers who built Hoover Dam.

Tragically, 112 construction-related deaths are attributed to Hoover Dam, but even more tragically, there were another 42 fatalities that are not counted as construction deaths.

Compounding the above tragedies, 42 more construction workers died, but pneumonia was listed as the cause of death, undoubtedly so the construction companies would not have to pay workers compensation to their families. They worked in the diversion tunnels in the midst of gasoline powered construction vehicles in temperatures up to 140 degrees F. (60 C.). The cause of death was most likely carbon monoxide poisoning. There were no deaths from pneumonia in the area among non construction workers.

Another tragedy is that the first fatality was a surveyor scouting for a site for the dam in 1922, J. G Tierney. The last fatality during construction was his son, Patrick Tierney, 13 years to the day after his father died.

In my job I do a lot of work to promote workplace safety and compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) standards. Hoover Dam shows how far we have come in making improvements in this important mission.

Check out beautiful travel photos of Villa Balbianello on Lake Como, Italy at Viva la Voyage!

7 comments:

brattcat said...

Father and son giving their lives for this project. Sends an icy shiver up the spine, doesn't it.

Thérèse said...

A delicate tribute.

milton said...

Uma vida dura
abraço
Milton

Dave-CostaRicaDailyPhoto.com said...

This is powerful information. The USA does so much more today than generations ago for worker safety. The worldwide attention focused on the miners in Chile will hopefully cause other countries around the word to give a higher priority to worker safety.

Sharon said...

I know I've toured the dam but, it was many, many years ago. I don't hearing about these very tragic statistics.

Clueless in Boston said...

The statue is quite realistic. Interesting statistics, especially about the deaths due to "pneumonia."

PerthDailyPhoto said...

What interesting information Julie, my motto is 'learn something new every day' and since starting this blog and visiting others like yours, I certainly do that alright!!

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