Spotlight on Construction Hazards During New York City Safety Week
As construction accident attorneys in New York, we are all for special safety awareness campaigns to promote construction worksite safety. However, the entire exercise can turn into a fruitless sham, if all the talking is not followed up with action on the ground.
This week, the New York Department of Buildings kicked off its sixth annual Construction Safety Week. The campaign will be spread across the five boroughs of the city. As part of the campaign, there will be seminars, presentations, as well as the release of new fire safety regulations. ??There will be a special focus on maintaining the safety of stalled construction sites in New York City. DOB inspectors will personally visit construction sites across the city to distribute construction safety materials and talk to workers.
Last year, New York City saw a substantial drop in the number of construction accident fatalities. There were three reported fatalities in the industry in 2009, compared to 19 the previous year. It was a staggering drop of more than 84% from 2008. Any New York construction accident lawyer would agree that increased enforcement activities by the Department of Buildings, have partly been responsible for this decline.
However, the fact is also that 2009 saw a dramatic reduction in the amount of construction activity in New York City. There was a 33% decrease in the number of permits issued for construction last year. In short, there were simply fewer construction sites as the recession ate into the industry. As a result, there were fewer trench collapses, scaffolding accidents, and fall accidents compared to previous years. Whether those fatality rates will stay this low once the economy recovers and construction booms again, is anybody's guess.
The New York construction accident attorneys at Godosky and Gentile represent injured victims of trench collapses, fall accidents, scaffolding accidents, electrical accidents and other construction-related accidents, in the New York City area and throughout New York State.
27 CONSTRUCTION WORKERS HAVE DIED THIS YEAR ON THE JOB IN NEW YORK CITY
Posted by: William Gentile
November 19, 2008
WNYC.org has a two part series (found via Brownstoner.com) analyzing one such accident in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Jose Palacios, a Mexican immigrant, died when the scaffold beneath him collapsed at a luxury condo in Clinton Hill. He worked on a day when the winds climbed to 30 miles an hour. Faulty equipment was the likely cause of the accident. "They had the correct ties, and for whatever reason, they didn't have the tool -- the correct tool to install those ties," said OSHA's Richard Mendelson. Of course the developer blames the workers for not listening to instructions. This is a common defense in most construction accident cases.
WNYC posted a picture of the accident scene:
The article quotes an OSHA investigator:
At about 10 o'clock, the scaffold tore free from the building, collapsed, and sent the workers tumbling. Palacios fell more than 10 stories, until he landed on a set-back at the third floor, fracturing his skull. He was taken to the hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
OSHA fined the developer of the building, but it has not paid the fine. The article notes an all too common refrain about federal regulation of contruction sites: OSHA has 20 inspectors responsible for overseeing thousands of construction sites across the five boroughs. Most of their time is spent responding to accidents, not preventing them.
NEW YORK CITY CRANE OPERATORS FINED AFTER TRAGIC ACCIDENT
Posted by: William Gentile
November 14, 2008
Newsday is reporting that two New York City crane operators have been fined $50,000 and have had their licenses suspended after a September accident that killed a construction worker. The city stated that Christopher Van Duyne and James Van Duyne cut a guardrail on a platform attached to a tower crane that was being taken down at a midtown Manhattan construction site. The men were helping to dismantle the crane at the site of a residential tower. A worker at the site, Anthony Esposito, fell more than 40 stories from the platform and was killed. The city already announced a suspension of the license of another worker who said he was taking a break when the accident happened.
Although workers' compensation is the only avenue of recovery for many construction accident victims, for some it is not. The state of New York provides special protections to workers at elevated job sites. Codified under New York's Labor Law Section 240(1) and 241(6) - these statutes, commonly known as the "Scaffold Law", allow construction workers who are hurt in falling accidents, to file a personal injury lawsuit against the owner or general contractor managing the work site. In most states, this is not allowed. Furthermore, these statutes impose strict liability. This means that workers injured in scaffold or ladder accidents do not need to establish the defendant was "at fault" or even that they knew about the dangerous condition. As long as it was the direct cause of the injuries, you can recover compensation.
THE COLLAPSING CRANE EPIDEMIC GOES GLOBAL
Posted by: William Gentile
November 10, 2008
New York has had the worst of it, but collapsing cranes have caused catastrophic injuries all over the world in the recent global building boom. The Associated Press reports that Dubai is the latest city to experience a collapsing crane. Luckily, there were no reported injuries.
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY COMPLAINS ABOUT INCREASED REGULATION
Posted by: Will Gentile
November 06, 2008
CNN has an article about construction industry gripes with all the new regulation that has resulted from the shocking number of crane accidents that have occurred in the last year. If you dig into the article you will note that the Federal regulations have not been updated in 40 years. This is newsworthy, but not because the construction industry is upset. The lack of regulation of this industry is an obvious cause of the numerous deaths that have occurred across the country. As we mentioned recently, crane accidents in New York City alone have resulted in 19 deaths this year.
By the way, the "unwieldy" regulation that has the construction industry upset happens to be from New York City:
"the city has passed laws that require a 30-hour training course for tower crane workers, limit the use of nylon slings that hold construction loads, mandate regular safety meetings before raising or lowering the cranes, and overhaul licensing requirements for mobile crane operators."
19 people dead and many more injured and this is considered too far.
NEW YORK CITY PRIEST RUNS MARATHON TO HONOR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
Posted by: Will Gentile
November 04, 2008
The AFL-CIO Now Blog reports that Rev. Brian Jordan ran in the New York Marathon to honor the 19 construction workers killed on the job this year. The staggering number of construction injuries this year highlights the importance of safety standards and training at construction sites. Rev. Jordan noted that nonunion workers are far more likely to be injured on a worksite. The AFL-CIO has also reported that one in five Latino construction workers are injured or killed on the job.
These facts emphasize the importance of supporting the laws of New York that protect construction workers. Labor Law 240 and 241 have been the target of the construction industry for a long time, but this last year shows how important these protections for worker safety are. The state of New York provides special protections to workers at elevated job sites. Codified under New York's Labor Law Section 240(1) and 241(6) - these statutes, commonly known as the "Scaffold Law", allow construction workers who are hurt in falling accidents, to file a personal injury lawsuit against their own employer. At this time of rampant construction accidents we should be seeking to extend the rights of injured construction workers, not limiting them.
