Garden City Construction Injury Blog

As of April, 16 construction workers have died in the city of New York in 2019. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has stated that the city sees more deaths in construction than in any other industry. The number of worksite deaths has gone up 33% in the past five years. Even more startling, the number of injuries has gone up 221% in the same period.

April alone saw three deaths, including one worker who was crushed by a crane and another who was killed by falling debris. Analysts say that the pressure of deadlines can lead many to cut corners. Contractors who underbid a job try to save money through cheap, inexperienced labor.

Three fatal construction accidents in one week have prompted a New York City councilman to call for the implementation of a workplace safety law that was enacted in 2017. The councilman says that the training protocols required by Local Law 196 may have prevented one or all of the fatalities. While the deadline for employers to meet the 40 hours of safety training mandated by the law remains Sept. 1, 2020, the date for reaching 30 hours of training has been moved from Dec. 1 to June 1, 2020.

The first of the three fatal construction accidents occurred on April 8 when a window washer died after being struck by a piece of falling masonry on the east Side. The second took place on April 10 and claimed the life of a worker who was stacking bricks at a construction site in Brooklyn Heights. The third happened in SoHo during the early morning hours of April 13 and killed a worker who was assembling a crane.

Construction workers in New York face many hazards while they are on the job. Even though construction work is among the most dangerous types of jobs, many workers are paid low wages. New York's city council is considering a bill that would require construction companies that have government contracts to pay the prevailing wage. However, more needs to be done to improve the safety of the workers.

The bill includes provisions that call for classroom and on-the-job training to help to prevent the types of accidents and injuries that can be prevented with education. Training is beneficial to both the workers and their employers.

The pressure to meet deadlines and stay within budget causes many construction managers to neglect worker safety. This is part of the reason why the construction fatality rate is so high in New York and across the U.S. In 2016, there were 4,693 fatalities in private industries, and of those, one in five were construction employees.

First of all, OSHA has implemented rules of practice called Safety and Health Regulations for Construction. Managers should not only make sure they are following these standards but also set clear expectations among employees. That way, employees can work together toward a common goal of developing a safety culture.