The NYC DOT recorded 4 deaths and 61 injuries related to accidents during facade work since 2015 and recently released a worker alert to raise awareness about the danger of using a suspended scaffold to repair facades.
Here are a few steps that workers should follow to reduce the risk of accident when doing facade repair
- Do not step foot on a scaffold if you do not have the necessary training. Workers on supported scaffolds are required by law to have 4 hours of training yearly and workers on suspended scaffolds are required to attend a yearly training of 16 hours.
- Fall protection must be provided by your contractor and worn any time you work on a supported scaffold with no guardrail or on a suspended scaffold. In addition to wearing a harness you also need to be tied-off to a secure life-line.
- Removing coping stones of damaged parapet must only be done if requested by a supervisor.
- Make sure to demolish a parapet wall in sequence from the copping down. Always make sure that parapet walls next to the demo do not become unstable.
- Check for loose materiel and immediately notify your supervisor if you notice some unstable brick work, parapet, cornice or chimney.
- Secure the tarp properly to avoid debris falling down
- Remember that using stand-off brackets attached to a cornice hook or C-hook is prohibited in New York City. C-Hooks have caused many construction accidents in New York City in the past and they have been prohibited since September 2019.
Read the Worker Alert from the DOT here