Los Angeles Subway Work Halted Amid Serious Safety Lapses

“Serious safety concerns” halted construction on the long-awaited Purple Line Extension in Los Angeles, a subway line decades in the making that would run from downtown to the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. As Rachel Uranga reports in the Los Angeles Times, “Workers have fallen off ladders, crushed fingers, slipped in mud, been struck by falling slurry and hit in the face by a failed hose.”

In a letter sent to the contractor, Tutor Perini O & G, Metro said “construction could not resume until the company assesses past failures and comes up with a plan to establish a culture of safety.” The company was selected for the project in part thanks to its bid coming in hundreds of millions of dollars lower than other submissions. “Since July 2021, there have been 32 injuries inside and around the project, according to documents sent to the executive board Friday. Thirteen of the more serious injuries required medical attention and reporting to state workplace safety officials.”

The work stoppage could delay the opening of the Purple Line, which was meant to start operations before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. “Over the next four decades, Metro plans on doubling the size of its rail lines — with tracks that will connect cities at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, the South Bay, from downtown, the beach, San Fernando Valley to the working-class communities of the Southeast.”

The project could resume work after November 7 if the company meets Metro’s demands to improve safety.