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Click For Your Free ConsulationPosted in Construction Accidents on January 4, 2022
Construction in the greater New York City metro area accounts for four percent of all construction jobs in the U.S. It has the highest number of construction workers of any other major metropolitan area.
Construction work is risky—many projects require working at great heights or with heavy equipment. Safety violations are a significant cause of worker injuries and deaths among construction workers.
A recent report from the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH)
found corresponding Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations in every single fatal construction accident in the state in 2017.
Local Law 196 imposes safety training requirements intended to help keep construction workers in the Big Apple safer on the job.
Local Law196 of 2017 is a NYC law requiring additional construction safety training. It was enacted as a way to help prevent the rising number of construction accidents in New York City, including injuries and fatalities.
The new law requires construction workers and supervisors to complete a specified number of hours of OSHA training.
The law was implemented in three phases beginning in March 1, 2018. It applies to all construction sites in NYC that are required to have a site safety plan.
All construction workers were required to obtain a Site Safety Card (SST) by March 1, 2021. Workers must complete 40 hours of OSHA training to obtain a SST.
All supervisors were required to have completed 62 hours of OSHA training by that date.
The training includes mandatory training on fall prevention, supported scaffolding, and drug and alcohol awareness.
New workers beginning work after December 1, 2019 must obtain a Temporary SST card before they start work. This requires 10 hours of OSHA training. They must complete their 40 hours of training and obtain their SST within six months after beginning work.
A construction site must comply with the law if it has:
A map of job sites that must meet the requirements of Local Law 196 can be found on the NYC Department of Building’s website.
Construction permit applicants must certify that all workers have met the training requirements.
If workers aren’t properly trained, the following penalties can apply:
Workers themselves are not fined. Enforcement is done by random inspections. Employers may get a reduced fine if they pay for training for the untrained worker.
NYCOSH reports that every construction fatality in the state in 2017 corresponded to an OSHA violation.
Now that all training required by NYC Local Law 196 should be complete, workers should see better compliance with OSHA safety regulations. Hopefully, workers will be subject to fewer accidents on the job.
Some of the most common violations cited by OSHA for 2020 for the construction industry include:
Roughly 25% of all citations in the construction industry are for improper fall protection for workers.
Most injuries and fatalities are caused by these common types of construction accidents in New York City:
Most accidents are preventable. Construction workers often face pressure to meet tight deadlines. This can lead workers and supervisors to bypass important safety measures.
Due to the nature of the work, construction accidents are often catastrophic or fatal.
Some common injuries sustained by construction workers include:
In 2020, there were 13 fatalities in the construction industry in NYC—22% of all workplace deaths.
Injuries on the job will usually be covered by workers’ compensation. Workers will need to report the accident to their employer to start the claims process. In most cases, the worker’s only money will come from workers’ compensation benefits.
However, sometimes workers’ comp claims are denied or undervalued. Workers could be left without the full benefit that they’re entitled to. In that case, a NYC workers’ compensation lawyer can help the employee appeal to get the benefits they deserve.
Other times, the worker’s injury might not be caused by the employer at all. A worker could be injured by the negligence of a third party, such as a contractor. In that case, the injured worker might be able to file a personal injury lawsuit with the help of a New York City construction accident lawyer to recover compensation for medical treatment, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
If you need legal assistance, contact the New York construction accident attorneys at Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel Personal Injury Lawyers at your nearest location to schedule a free consultation.
We have two convenient locations in New York:
Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel Personal Injury Lawyers – New York City Office
450 7th Ave #409
New York, NY 10123
(212) 564-2800
Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel Personal Injury Lawyers – Brooklyn Office
26 Court St Suite 2511
Brooklyn, NY 11242
(718) 802-1600