In Massachusetts, federal and state authorities will reportedly be launching an official investigation after a construction worker was killed on Tuesday afternoon while helping to build the $2.4 billion Wynn Boston Harbor integrated casino resort.
According to Wednesday reports from The Boston Globe newspaper and the MassLive.com news service, the deceased worker was named as Joe Teixeira from the nearby town of Seekonk. The 56-year-old man was apparently seriously injured while dismantling a trench box on the south side of the 33-acre waterfront site before later being pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Elaine Driscoll from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission reportedly stated that the regulator had been ‘deeply saddened’ by the death before revealing that ‘the appropriate local authorities’, as well as federal officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, are now set to ‘conduct a comprehensive review of the circumstances surrounding this incident’.
“We extend our most heartfelt sympathy to the worker’s loved ones,” Driscoll reportedly told MassLive.com.
Teixeira was reportedly employed by local construction firm J Derenzo Companies with the family-owned company declaring that he had lost his life as a result of ‘injuries sustained at the Wynn Boston [Harbor] job site’.
“Our deepest-felt thoughts and prayers are with Joe’s family, friends and co-workers as well as everyone impacted by this incident,” reportedly read a statement from the Brockton-based construction firm.
A venture of Wynn Resorts Limited, the five-star Wynn Boston Harbor is scheduled to open in the northern Boston suburb of Everett in June of 2019 featuring some 671 hotels rooms alongside a 150,000 sq ft casino offering at least 3,000 slots as well as 168 gaming tables. The single-phase private development is reportedly the largest in the history of the small eastern state and sees approximately 1,500 construction workers turn up on site every day.
“We are launching a full investigation into the incident,” Greg John, a spokesperson for Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts Limited, reportedly told MassLive.com. “This is a very sad day for everyone at Wynn Boston Harbor. Our deepest condolences and heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to his family and co-workers.”
The Boston Globe reported that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has conducted four prior workplace safety and health standard investigations into the many firms helping to construct the Wynn Boston Harbor with a trio of these still ongoing. These purportedly relate to a worker being hit by an excavator bucket, an employee being injured as a result of falling down a shaft and an incident that saw a worker require treatment after the scissor lift from which he was working toppled over.