“Construction has become the deadliest job in New York City,” claims a report from CBS New York, and the statistics show this isn’t just hyperbole. There have been 16 work-related accidents in construction in the past year in New York City, which is more than any other industry, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
When people think of New York City, a few images come to mind: skyscrapers, hot dog carts, and sidewalks crowded with pedestrians. In recent years, scaffolding has also become synonymous with the Big Apple. Scaffolds, also known as “sidewalk sheds,” are temporary structures on the outside of buildings, usually made of wood or metal poles, that are used by workers while building, repairing, or cleaning. Upwards of 7,000 buildings in New York City have sidewalk sheds, according to the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB).
Rescue workers recovered the body of a construction worker who died after being trapped in a trench when a retaining wall collapsed at a worksite. The New York Times reported that the accident happened on September 12 at approximately 1:30 p.m. A group of construction workers was digging a trench 30 feet below street level at the site, located at 39th Street and Seventh Avenue in Sunset Park, when part of the wall started to fall down. As a result, rubble had fallen into the trench and on top of the workers. The Times said approximately one-third of the wall came down.
The New York City Department of Buildings has issued a stop-work order on a repair project after a construction worker was killed when he was struck by a beam that fell from a high-rise building.
On February 27, 2018, a building located in Prospect Lefferts Gardens collapsed on top of a man leaving him trapped under rubble for almost two hours. According to CBS News, the man was looking for building materials when the floor collapsed under him. According to multiple media outlets, the building had been boarded up since 2006 and the owners had received a number of violations from the Department of Buildings. The alleged violations included:
Recently, a worker who was repairing a three-family home was injured when plywood fell onto him. The man was cutting sheets of plywood and handing them off to a co-worker, who hoisted the plywood approximately 20 feet onto the roof. The material fell onto the worker, resulting in an injury. He sued, alleging that the property owner was liable under Section 240(1) of the Labor Law, also known as the “Scaffold Law”. However, the law also protects workers at ground-level that are hit by falling materials or equipment that should have been properly secured.
On May 10, several bills were signed into law which increases safety conditions for New York City's construction workers. The approved bills include increases in injury reporting requirements, crane-related safety measures, and the requirement of a construction superintendent and onsite safety plan for any building project that is three stories or higher.
One look at the New York City skyline can tell you that the city is currently undergoing a building boom. With more and more construction projects beginning each month, construction worker injuries and deaths are on the rise. The growing number of deaths and injuries were brought to the attention of New Yorkers on January 31st, when thousands of New York City construction workers assembled to mourn the tragic loss of 30 workers who died in construction related accidents over the past two years. With the upsurge of construction site related injuries and deaths, it is important for workers employed in construction to be aware of their rights and remedies.
With so many new construction projects taking place in New York City, accidents have been on the rise. Recently, another construction site accident occurred when a construction vehicle flipped backward, and struck the roof of a NYPD van that was parked. Fortunately, on this occasion there were no injuries or fatalities. However, such incidents continue to call attention to the need for implementing better construction safety measures to reduce the safety risks faced by workers, and even pedestrians and vehicles passing by construction sites.
A 52-year-old construction worker, who specialized in iron working, was killed on, February 24, 2015, when steel beams intended for the new environmentally-friendly roof at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center fell off and stuck him.
According to reports, the worker was part of a team installing the vegetative green roofing near the Atlantic Avenue side of the arena around 1 p.m. when four beams, also called joists, rolled off a work truck before they were fastened to a crane to hoist them into place.
