Assembly passes two bills dealing with Sierra Chemical blast

AB110 and AB173 won unanimous approval and were sent to the Senate for final legislative action.

AB110 requires employees who work with explosives to be paid solely on the basis of hours worked. AB173 revises standards for regulating facilities where such substances are handled.

Workers at Sierra Chemical Co., which made explosives used by the mining industry, were paid on the basis of piecework. The plant near Reno was destroyed in a January 1998 explosion.

A federal investigation found the explosion may have occurred after a worker turned on an electrical mixing machine that contained chemicals mistakenly left in a pot by the previous day's workers. Mixer blades scraped on the chemicals, creating a spark that set off the blast.

The bills approved by the Assembly are among several measures that were proposed by a special commission headed by Nevada National Guard Adjutant Gen. Drennan "Tony" Clark.

Other measures require that insurance companies send the remains of workers killed in industrial accidents back to the homeland of the worker, and require that workers get safety training in their language or by a videotape in a language they understand. Just three of the 16 Sierra Chemical workers spoke English and most were undocumented aliens.

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