State Senator Jose Peralta and Jackson Heights safety advocates are asking that the city conduct an investigation into the March 13 death of a 34-year-old construction worker. According to a QNS.com news report, the man was killed in a construction accident after he was pinned by a forklift at 152-11 89th Avenue. The man, an Ecuadorian immigrant, was a member of New Immigrant Community Empowerment, a Jackson Heights-based nonprofit that is asking the city to better protect construction workers.
News reports stated that the man was working with another employee to move a large window with a forklift. The forklift operator dropped the window against a wall crushing the worker in the process. The worker’s brother-in-law said he did not feel safe on the site. The Department of Buildings had issued a stop-work order earlier at the site in December 2017. The site also has 37 open violations from the Environmental Control Board. A four-building residential complex with 324 luxury apartments is being constructed at the site.
Immigrants and Workplace Safety Violations
Peralta has been pushing the state Senate to pass Carlos’ Law – a piece of legislation named after Carlos Moncayo, a migrant worker who was also killed in a construction accident. This law would increase penalties and fines when an employer ignores, disregards or fails to comply with workplace safety procedures, which results in worker death or injuries. Moncayo was buried alive in a 13-foot trench at a Manhattan construction site. The general contractor in that case was ordered to produce public service announcements in English and Spanish to promote worksite safety.
Statistics consistently show that Latino and immigrant workers are disproportionately affected by construction accidents. A review of fatal falls on the job investigated by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 2003 to 2011 found that 74 percent of construction workers who died were either U.S. born Latinos or immigrants.
According to U.S. Census data, 41 percent of all construction workers in New York City identify themselves as Latino. Studies also show that immigrant workers, particularly day laborers, may be reluctant to report safety hazards because they are afraid of being told to leave for the day, losing their job altogether or worse, getting deported and separated from their families. Construction accident fatalities are also on the rise in New York City.
Construction Workers in Peril
An annual report released by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, an advocacy group, stated that fatal injuries in the construction industry increased statewide to 71 in 2016 from 50 in 2014, although construction worker deaths in New York City declined to 21 from 28, respectively. The leading cause of death was falls, which accounted for 48 percent of the state’s construction worker deaths from 2007 to 2016.
The group also analyzed OSHA inspections in New York State, finding a 62.6 percent decrease in inspections from 1986 to 2017. The report states that this decrease in inspections happens to coincide with a significant increase in construction activity over the same period of time. Additional analysis found that in 2016 safety violations had occurred at 82 percent of the construction sites inspected by OSHA after fatalities. In many instances construction companies and contractors put workers in danger by disregarding regulations and workers die as a result, the report stated.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
Workers who are injured in construction accidents can seek workers’ compensation benefits. Families of workers who are killed in construction accidents may be able to seek death benefits as well. In addition, victims may be able to file a third-party claim against a party other than an employer or co-employees and seek compensation for their injuries, damages or losses. This allows victims and their families to have two sources of compensation available to them. Examples of third parties include general contractors, sub-contractors, building owners, property managers, etc.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a construction 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.
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 cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously 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: http://qns.com/story/2018/03/26/officials-call-investigation-death-construction-worker-jamaica-site/