OSHA alleges Imperial Palace Construction failed to provide safe job site

Mississippi Business Journal, The, Feb 23, 1998

BILOXI--Imperial Palace Construction Co. failed in its responsibility to provide a safe job site and to assure that subcontractors hired to work on that job site adhered to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, said Clyde Payne, director of the Jackson OSHA office.

OSHA levied a $105,750 fine against Imperial Palace Construction Co. for safety hazards it said could have caused "multiple fatalities." Imperial Palace was cited for 23 serious violations, which OSHA describes as hazards that could result in death or serious injury.

Payne said safety conditions at the site of the hotel-casino being constructed on the Back Bay of Biloxi had deteriorated when OSHA was called in this past September to investigate an electrical fire that seriously burned a construction worker.

"After observing numerous serious safety violations while investigating the accident, we expanded the inspection to cover the entire project," Payne said.

Previously OSHA had visited the site in September 1996.

Besides the fines against Imperial Construction, the OSHA inspectors cited nine subcontractors for 43 serious violations resulting in $136,700 in fines.

Types of problem cited include deficient scaffolds, inadequate fall protection, and improper storage of compressed gas and flammable liquids.

The bottom half of the Imperial Palace Hotel, the tallest building in Mississippi, opened the first weekend in February. Work continues on the top half of the hotel and on other facilities at the resort. The casino has been open since late December, 1997.

Imperial Palace declined comment on the OSHA citations. Imperial Palace Construction has 30 days to appeal the ruling.