New York City Issues New Crane Regulations

 The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) has issued a series of new regulations to tighten citywide crane safety four months after a deadly crane collapse in Tribeca. According to a DNAinfo news report, the Department of Buildings announced that it would adopt several recommendations recently released by the Crane Safety Technical Working Group, a committee appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to examine crane safety after a fatal construction site accident where a 564-foot crawler crane came crashing down across two city blocks, killing one man and injuring several others.

Some of the Changes
Since the fatal crane collapse, the type of crawler crane used in the accident has been banned from city streets. Those cranes may, however, operate on places such as empty lots. For all crawler cranes, the city now requires construction sites to employ a “lift director” to oversee weather conditions and inspections similar to the “sign-off” process required before airplanes take off. Also, all crawler cranes that are mounted to massive, mobile tracks will now need to be equipped with anemometers, devices used to measure wind speeds to allow for real-time monitoring of weather conditions.
The lift director would be responsible for making sure that cranes are not used during dangerous weather conditions. Prior to this new requirement, the DOB would monitor the weather and send out alerts and shutdown orders based on citywide conditions. But, now, with the new regulations, the lift director would be responsible for monitoring wind speeds and weather conditions at the construction site. DOB officials said the agency will still monitor the lift directors.
Pushback from Building Industry
In June, the Working Group released a set of 23 safety regulations including a recommendation that puts an age limit on cranes. These new regulations are getting resistance from the construction industry where many are complaining that the safety restrictions have gone too far.
Even as the DOB is looking to enact additional regulations based on the Working Group’s recommendations, contractors and builders say the new rules are “extremely onerous” and would add daily reports and meeting requirements. They say the new rules only came about because of the fatal crane accident in February, but it is not really known what caused that accident. An investigation report into that incident is expected sometime this fall.
How Crane Accidents Occur
Each year a number of workers in New York City and other parts of the country are injured or killed in crane accidents. It is important to know the main causes of these accidents so cities and regulatory agencies can impose the necessary rules to help prevent them and also ensure that workers are better informed about important safety precautions. One of the most common ways in which crane accidents occur is when cranes buckle or tip over. This often occurs when a crane is overloaded. Improper crane assembly may also cause a boom to collapse. Often, we find that lack of adequate training for employees, particularly crane operators may lead to crane accidents.
Companies should make sure that crane operators and others involved in the operation of cranes have completed related safety courses offered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Crane collapses may also occur due to mechanical failure caused by improper maintenance. Cranes should be regularly inspected and maintained. When cranes are improperly or infrequently inspected, it’s a lax approach that may result in lives lost.
Protecting Your Rights
Workers who have been injured in crane accidents may be able to seek compensation for damages through workers’ compensation benefits. In addition, workers may be able to file a third-party claim for significant money damages and have two cases for recovering compensation. A third-party claim is filed against a party other than an employer whose negligence may have caused or contributed to the incident. Examples of such third parties include, but are not limited to, general contractors, sub-contractors, building owners, maintenance companies, property owners and/or 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. For over 49 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. 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 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.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160701/tribeca/city-crane-regulations-tighten-with-new-department-of-buildings-mandates