Officials with the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) have shut down
more than 300 construction sites this month after building inspectors found flagrant safety violations. According to a report in the New York Daily News, the 322 sites, more than a third of which were in Brooklyn, were shuttered during a massive safety sweep conducted by DOB inspectors with the goal of curbing construction accident deaths in the city.
So far, seven workers have been killed in construction site accidents just this year, including three in the month of May alone. On May 22, a 32-year-old worker fell from the sixth floor to the second floor of a building under construction in Queens. Five days later, on May 27, a 49-year-old Brooklyn construction worker died after he fell four stories off the roof of a Flatbush bank he was helping demolish. In that case, the worker was not tethered to any fall safety device and lost his balance before falling.
Construction Fatalities and Injuries Are Preventable
DOB officials called the recent spate of construction worker deaths “tragic, senseless and entirely avoidable.” In 2020, eight workers died in construction accidents even though all nonessential construction activity was shut down in the city for more than two months because of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2019, 12 workers died in construction accidents citywide. In addition to deaths, 1,097 construction workers have been injured on the job over the past two years, officials said.
Last year, 502 construction-related injuries were reported and in 2019, 595 workers were injured. Most injuries occurred as victims who were not wearing safety harnesses fell while working on higher floors. Of the stop-work orders issued this month, 113 were handed out at Brooklyn worksites, 83 in Manhattan, 69 in Queens and 54 in the Bronx. Safety violations were found in three worksites in Staten Island, DOB officials said.
Fall Prevention is Crucial
A large number of construction workers such as ironworkers, steelworkers, carpenters, masons, laborers or electricians work from an elevation or height by using scaffolds, platforms, ladders etc. Worksites are required under state and federal laws to have safety measures in place to prevent workers from falling off overhead platforms, elevated workstations or into holes or shafts. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that fall protection be provided at elevations of 4 feet in general industry workplaces, 5 feet in shipyards, 6 feet in the construction industry and 8 feet in long shoring operations. In addition, fall protection must be provided when working over dangerous equipment and machinery, regardless of the fall distance.
Some of the precautions that must be taken at construction sites include guarding floor holes and shafts into which workers can accidentally walk or fall; provide guardrails and toe boards around every elevated open-sided platform, floor or runway; and provide workers with fall protection devices such as safety harnesses and lines, safety nets, stair railing and handrails. This type of personal protective equipment should be provided at no cost to workers. Construction workers should also receive proper job training, safety training and adequate supervision on the job.
Protected by NY Law
Workers in New York City have strong protections under Section 240 of the New York Labor Law commonly known as the “Scaffolding Law.” This statute governs the use of scaffolding in work sites. It requires contractors, property owners and their agents who erect, demolish, repair, alter, paint or clean a structure to be responsible for providing the necessary equipment, including scaffolding, to keep workers safe from falls on the job.
This law also recognizes that falls are one of the most common causes of workplace injuries and that they are preventable. Workers are also required to be provided with fall safety devices when they are at a job site such as ladders, hoists, stays, irons, ropes, blocks harnesses, safety nets, toe boards guardrails, etc. Scaffolds and worksites should be free of slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall hazards that cause these major injury accidents.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you have suffered injuries in a construction-related accident, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
Our law firm recovered $3,375,576 for a construction worker (an undocumented immigrant) who was injured on the job – one of the highest construction case settlements in New York that year. Our law firm also recovered $3,000,000 for a man who fell and suffered two broken legs when he walked into an open elevator shaft. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and/or medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-city-buildings-shuts-down-300-construction-sites-20210627-y7h2dz4nfbcx3arclli2bgeksa-story.html