Working construction in and around New York City comes with its share of dangers. Too commonly, that danger presents itself in the form of scaffolding, which workers must use to do their jobs. When it fails, those workers are at a high risk of suffering serious injury or even death.
Scaffolding failure leads to severe injuries
This was precisely the case for two men working construction in the Bronx. According to reports, the men (ages 29 and 45) were doing interior construction at a site on Hunts Point Avenue. At approximately 2pm, the scaffolding on which they were standing collapsed out from under them. Both men fell 20 feet to the ground below, suffering severe injuries as a result. Emergency medical services rushed them to nearby Lincoln Hospital.
The scaffolding collapse is currently under investigation, so it is not yet known precisely what caused the accident. But the exact reason will likely be little comfort to the workers or their families. The fact is that owners and employers have a duty to provide construction workers with safe scaffolding from which to do their jobs. And yet, as is too often the case, safe scaffolding is not what the two men were provided.
New York’s Scaffold Law is the strictest of its kind in the nation – it includes a number of safety requirements with which owners must comply. Moreover, it assigns strict liability to owners when scaffolding fails. This is different from typical negligence-based accidents, where the injured person must prove the owner did some action which was unreasonable. Under the Scaffold Law, they do not. Instead, the owner is automatically liable for injuries sustained by a scaffolding collapse.
If you have been injured in a construction accident, due to faulty scaffolding, call the attorneys at Chopra & Nocerino. These are precisely the types of cases we handle on a regular basis and we have the experience to ensure you receive the full compensation you are entitled to by the law.
