Over an 18-month period, 12 construction workers died in towers that have recently transformed the skyline of the Las Vegas Strip. Many dismissed those deaths as the
tragic result of mistakes from workers that are only inevitable on projects so large. Las Vegas Sun reporter Alexandra Berzon spent the last year investigating the root causes of those deaths and found that they were not inevitable. She revealed a pattern of safety violations on projects that were unprecedented in their size, speed and congestion. She also found a disturbing lack of accountability: the state's Occupational Safety and Health Administration reversed citations against employers without providing additional evidence or justification. Angered by the revelations and continuing death toll, workers walked off the job at MGM Mirage's CityCenter, shutting down
the largest private commercial development in U.S. history-where six workers had died-until the contractors agreed to safety improvements. The U.S. Congress, Nevada state legislature and a roundtable of local officials followed with hearings. The Las Vegas Sun, and notably Ms. Berzon's reporting, won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in journalism.