The construction industry employed about 4% of all workers in the United States in 2017. This equals about 6,882,000 people employed in the industry. Despite employing just 4% of workers, the construction industry accounted for 21% of all worker deaths. The U.S. Department of Labor reported in 2015 that 64% of all construction worker deaths had just 4 causes. Those causes were falls, accounting for 38.8% of deaths; struck by object, accounting for 9.5% of the total; electrocution, accounting for 8.6% of the total; and caught-in or between, accounting for 7.2% of the total. Further, nearly all construction workers will be involved in at least one work-reported injury in their lifetime.
The New York Times reports that a new Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans collapsed, killing two people and injuring 19 others.
The collapse happened at about 9 a.m. on October 12th, causing metal and debris to cascade onto a New Orleans street. Authorities evacuated nearby buildings and cordoned off the site of the collapse, which occurred near the French Quarter.
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The collapse took place in portions of the upper floors of a future Hard Rock Hotel on Canal Street. The building had been under construction for at least a year. Plans for the hotel called for 350 rooms, residential spaces, two ballrooms, and 12,000 square feet of event space.
Nineteen people were assessed for their injuries on site. 18 of them eventually were transported to local hospitals. Two people are known to have died in the collapse and a third person remains unaccounted for.
Hard Rock International said that the hotel was being built as a licensing agreement and that it was not involved in the construction.
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