Safety inspectors to increase TX work

SAN ANTONIO (AP/KXAN) - U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced that more federal safety inspectors will arrive in Texas next month to begin stepped-up enforcement of safety standards.

Solis said Monday the inspectors will concentrate on construction sites and will focus on unsafe scaffolds, trenches and other risks.

Three men died in June after falling off scaffolding while working on a high-rise apartment building in Austin, and a construction-safety study found the city of one of the worst places to work for construction workers.

More construction workers died in Texas than in another other state. Last year, 67 workers died at job sites. So far, 33 have died this year.

Solis, who was speaking at the American Society of Safety Engineers conference in San Antonio, said she is particularly concerned with the rapid increase of fatalities among Hispanic workers.