Construction Accidents Attorneys New York New York

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.

WALL COLLAPSED ON FOREMAN IN STATEN ISLAND
Posted by: William Gentile
February 12, 2009

A 59-year-old construction foreman, was laying down metal tracks when a wall collapsed on him early this morning in the Rosebank section of Staten Island. He was found unconscious and pronounced dead at the scene by EMS officials. Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri said that wind played a role in the wall collapse. Investigators are trying to determine whether Building Safety requirements were met.

Construction workers who were not associated with the Rosebank job but fled to the scene after hearing about the accident, said the wall appeared to be poorly built. "It was just a matter of time before that wall went down," said Terry Lane, who identified himself as a construction laborer with 29 years of experience. He said the wall didn't appear to be shored up the way it should have been. "If there was heavy wind, you would see it wobble. Safety is a very important thing when it comes to construction. I think it's a shame that anybody should be put in a position like this."

There are saftery regulations that require proper shoreing of walls at construction sites. It seems that OSHA requirements were not met in this instance. Very likely OSHA will be investigating this incident and the parties responsible for the site could be subject to penalties.

The state of New York provides special protections to workers at construction sites. Codified under New York's Labor Law Section 240(1) and 241(6) allow construction workers who are hurt in job site accidents, to file a personal injury lawsuit against a contractor or owner, except owners of one and two-family dwellings who contract for but do not direct or control the work.

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