The construction industry in New York proved deadlier to workers during 2020 — the first year of the coronavirus pandemic — compared to the two years before that, and reversed a multi-year decline in the statewide construction accident fatality rate, the Gotham Gazette reports. This is according to a new report published by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH). The report showed 41 workers were killed in New York’s construction sites in 2020 including 13 just in New York City.
Lack of Safety Inspections
While that total number of worker deaths is lower compared to 2019, the fatality
rate among construction workers increased by 9% statewide even as construction projects slowed down, according to NYCOSH, which is an association of workers’ rights advocates, labor unions and community-based organizations.
The report also states that federal regulators conducted the lowest ever number of inspections in New York State in 2020 — a 53% drop from 2019. NYCOSH representatives expressed disappointment with OSHA over how few safety inspections the agency conducted during the pandemic year. The report found that in 97% of cases where a worker had died, employers had existing OSHA violations, which ranged from failing to provide fall safety systems to misuse of scaffolding or having untrained workers on site.
Falls from heights are responsible for a large number of construction accident deaths, most of which are caused by a lack of safeguards for workers. Many construction workers in New York such as ironworkers, steelworkers, carpenters, masons, bricklayers, painters, window washers, and electricians etc. need to work from an elevation by using scaffolds, platforms, ladders etc.
Importance of Labor Unions
The report also showed that a vast majority of construction workers killed on the job in New York in 2020 were not unionized. Also, a disproportionate number of workers killed across all sectors were Latino, continuing trends from past years. Latino New Yorkers account for a greater number of worker deaths across all industries — with 18% of all fatalities in the workplace while making up 10% of the state’s workforce.
Labor advocates have blamed these tragedies — most of them preventable — on gaps in union representation, exploitation of immigrant laborers and a system that doesn’t do much to penalize contractors who allow unsafe working conditions to exist or fail to address them.
Four out of five fatalities investigated by OSHA on private construction sites in 2020 occurred on jobs where workers were not unionized. In New York City, every site OSHA investigated was non-union. Advocates say unionized workers tend to fare better because they have more training through mandatory apprenticeships. They also have clearer channels to report safety violations and an organization to support them against a contractor or construction company, should they retaliate. Immigrant workers, especially people who are undocumented, have even fewer avenues for recourse and support, advocates say.
Safety advocates want to see government subsidies rescinded or denied for developers who violate safety standards. They also want to see state lawmakers expand other protections for construction workers including requirements for worker training and the passage of Carlos’ Law, which raises the penalties for employers, contractors and other entities when a construction worker is injured or killed on the job as a result of safety oversight.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
A victim who has been injured in a construction accident, in addition to workers’ comp, may be able to file a third-party lawsuit for substantial money damages against a number of parties, and thus have two sources of compensation. Third-party claims are filed against parties other than the employer or co-employees and may include general contractors, sub-contractors, building owners, managing agents, construction companies, etc. In cases where a worker dies from injuries suffered on the job, surviving family members may seek death benefits through workers’ compensation and/or file a wrongful death claim against a third party.
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 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: https://www.gothamgazette.com/state/11080-construction-deaths-new-york-increased-2020-report