Construction Accident

Published on: May 11, 2020

Construction workers and their families at higher risk of contracting Covid-19 following expansion of “Essential Building Work” in NYC

By the nature of their work, construction workers have a high risk of getting injured in accidents on NYC construction sites. Now many of them are facing another deadly threat as they have recently been asked to return to work after the State expanded the list of “essential building work” from hospitals, affordable housing and infrastructure projects to schools, hotels, restaurants, banks, convenience stores, appliance stores and storage facilities among others as long as ground has already been broken.

As a results thousands of construction sites are kept open in the city putting at risk construction workers and their families to catch the deadly virus.

Profit ahead of safety

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Published on: April 30, 2020

Record number of fall injuries at NYC constructions sites during the first quarter of 2020

By GGCRBHS&M

1 worker died and 158 others were injured on construction sites in New York City during the first quarter of 2020 compared to respectively 0 and 137 for the same period of 2019. When looking at a 5 year period, the first trimester of 2018 was the worst for New York City construction workers with 170 of them sustaining injuries and 3 of them dying in accidents.

Most accidents resulting in injuries occurred in Manhattan with 96 workers injured, followed by Brooklyn, 35, Queens, 14 and the Bronx, 13. No injuries were reported in Staten Island during the first trimester. With the exception of Staten Island all other boroughs recorded an increase in construction accident injuries during the the first 3 months of this year compared to the same period a year earlier.

Working on construction sites is one of the most dangerous activities in New York and in the US. The Department of Buildings classify injuries in 6 different categories. The largest category is “Other”. Injuries in this category are usually not life threatening or not critical. Many of them are small cuts and lacerations that do not require ambulance transportation or hospitalization. Most of the time a visit to an emergency call center is sufficient to treat the injury. It is also rare that a safety violation is issued after these types of injuries. The second largest category of NYC construction accident injuries are injuries related to falls. Falls often result in serious injuries. An ambulance is often called and workers end up most of the time at the hospital after a fall. Most fall injuries could be prevented if workers were fully protected. During the first quarter of 2020, 45 hart hats were injured in falls in New York. This is the highest number of fall injuries recorded during the first quarter over the last 5 years. Another very common cause of injuries is when material fell onto workers. 12 workers were injured in that manner during the first three months of the year compared to respectively 22, 21, 23 and 10 during the same period of 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016. 6 people were also injured in scaffolds accidents and 2 sustained injuries related to mechanical construction equipment.

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Published on: March 24, 2020

Fall prevention in the roofing industry

By GGCRBHS&M

Two weeks ago a 45 year old construction worker died after he fell from a roof in Troy, NY. The worker sustained serious injury and was pronounced dead upon his arrival to the hospital. (read more here)

Roofer is one of the most dangerous job in the US

Roofers are the construction workers that are the most at risk of dying in a fall accident. According to previous statistics between 35 and 40 roofers out of 100,000 die every year in fall accidents. This is 10 times the rate of fatality of the construction industry globally. 75% of roofing fatalities are caused by falls. Falls are often deadly but when they are not, injuries can be devastating and sometimes result in lifelong disabilities. Traumatic Brain injury is one of the most common injury sustain by roofers in fall accidents. Broken bone injuries can also occur depending on how the worker lands. Broken spine, broken neck, arms, and ribs are the most common as well as broken knees, ankles and feet.

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Published on: March 19, 2020

Small decline in NYC construction accident fatalities and injuries in 2019

By GGCRBHS&M

11 construction workers died and 586 were injured on the job in New York City last year according to statistics from the NYC Department of Buildings. Half of the fatalities occurred in Manhattan, 2 in Brooklyn, 2 in Queens and one in the Bronx. No fatalities were reported in Staten Island. 12 construction workers died yearly during the 4 previous years. When looking at these numbers it is important to keep in mind that the NYC Department of Buildings has very narrow criteria to count construction fatalities in the city and an estimated one third of the construction deaths recorded by OSHA in New York City dot not appear in the DOT stats.

The number of workers injured in construction accidents in New York City last year declined compared to the 3 previous years but was higher than in 2015. 586 construction workers sustained injuries on construction sites in the city last year compared to 761 in 2018, 666 in 2017, 599 in 2016 and 472 in 2015 according to the DOT statistics. Most accidents occurred on Manhattan construction sites followed by Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island. The monthly number of hard hats injured on the job reached a peak in August at 62 and were above 50 during the warm season in May, June, July and September. During all other months of 2019 the number of injuries recorded on NYC construction sites in 2019 was below 50. This is quite an improvement compared to the year before during which injuries almost reached 100 in May and were above 50 every month except for November and December.

Manhattan Construction accident deaths and injuries are still on a rising trend despite a decline in both deaths and injuries last year. 4 construction workers died in Manhattan during the 3 month period of April, May and June and 2 others in October. July and August had the highest number of injuries with 38 workers injured in July and 34 in August.

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Published on: March 6, 2020

Preventing WMSDs injuries among construction workers

By GGCRBHS&M

Safety on construction sites is not only about preventing accidents but also about keeping construction workers healthy and preventing injuries.

Because of the nature of the tasks they perform on a daily basis, construction workers are at a high risk of developing work-related muskuloskeletal disorders (WMSDs) also known as soft tissues injuries.

Keeping a worker free from injuries is a win win situation for both the employer and the worker

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Published on: February 27, 2020

Construction workers badly affected by the opioid crisis

By GGCRBHS&M

65 construction workers died from unintentional overdose while on the job in the US in 2018 compared to respectively 48, 32, 27, 18, 17, 7 and 7 in 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011. These deaths represent more than a quarter of the 305 overdose fatalities at workplaces recorded for all industries in the US in 2018. The construction industry is one of the most affected industries by the opioid crisis in the US.

In its recently published Quarterly Data Report, the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) provides an in-depth analysis of the dramatic increase of unintentional overdose fatalities on american construction sites.

HIGH NUMBER OF UNINTENTIONAL OVERDOSE FATALITIES ON CONSTRUCTION SITES IN THE NORTH EAST REGION

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Published on: February 21, 2020

One construction worker died and another one was seriously injured in a building collapse in Queens, NYC

By GGCRBHS&M

A welder died and another construction worker was seriously injured after a building collapsed on a NYC construction site yesterday.

50 year old David Johnson, a father of two daughters going to college, was working on the demolition of a building located at 147-05 94th Ave in Jamaica, Queens, when the second floor where he was standing collapsed. Johnson and another unidentified worker were buried in the debris. When firefighters arrived, the condition were so bad that they had to use ladder trucks to free the victims. Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Hi co-worker was transported to the hospital with critical injury.

Johnson was an unionized welder with Local 79. He took the job at the non unionized demolition site run by the general contractor Cole Partners Inc because it was hard for him to find work. Before the accident, Leslie White, another member of Local 79 who worked as a safety supervisor on another site told him the day before “that thing is going to collapse”. Johnson told her not to worry.

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Published on: February 21, 2020

Looking back at 2019 high profile construction accidents and what can be done to prevent similar tragedies

By GGCRBHS&M

The crane accident that killed 4 people at a Google office project in Seattle and the collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel project that resulted in 3 deaths were among the most horrendous construction accidents that occur last year in the US. While these major tragedies were all over the news, crane accidents and partial building collapses occurred all over the country last year. A partial collapse of a building in Cinicinnati, a crane collapse in Dallas. Most big cities in the US had similar tragedies including New York. Last August one man died and five were injured in a building collapse (see previous blog). A crane company was temporarily banned from the city after two consecutive crane accidents including one resulting in the death of a construction worker (see previous blog).

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 175 people are injured in crane accidents and 44 die on average every year in the US

Most crane accidents are caused by human errors. Many of them such as the one that occurred at the Google site in Seattle or the one that killed a worker in New York occur during the assembling or the disassembling of the crane. The assembly/dissassembly director is in charge of making sure that the manufacturer guidelines and all safety procedures are followed during this dangerous operation. While OSHA introduced new regulations last April, these regulations are mostly related to improving crane operator’s knowledge and training.

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Published on: February 20, 2020

Construction accidents related to personal cell phone usage

By GGCRBHS&M

Cell phone usage on construction sites may increases the risk of accidents. While there are no specific rules when it comes to cellphone usage on a construction site, it is the employer’s responsibility to keep employees safe and to train them about cell phone usage while working on an active construction site.

Headphones are not OSHA approved ear protective devices

While OSHA requires construction workers to use ear protective devices when the noise on a site exceeeds permissible noise exposure limits, they are not talking about headphones or earbuds. While some manufacturers are advertising that their headphones are OSHA approved or OSHA compliant, OSHA warned in a recent letter that these claims are misleading. Listening to music when working on an active construction site covers environmental sounds and increases the risk for construction workers to be struck by hazards while performing their work.

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Published on: February 6, 2020

Following the death of a security guard at the construction site of the Central Park Tower, the general contractors sues the NYC DOB and the Office of Administration Trials and Hearings

By GGCRBHS&M

Two years ago, Harry Ramnauh was crushed to death by a glass panel at a Manhattan construction site. He was a security guard at the construction site of the $3 billion Luxury Central Park Tower which when completed will be the tallest residential building in the world. Reaching 112 floors and a height of 1,550 feet, it is also the most expensive development in New York City. Apartments are listed at up to $63 million with a total projected sellout of $4 billion. (see building under construction on the right side of the picture)

Contractor argues that “failure to safeguard the public” doesn’t apply because the victim was a worker

After the death of the security guard, The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) issued several citations to Lendlease, the general contractor for the construction of the residential tower. Lendlease successfully fought most of the violations and recently filed another petition against the DOB and the Office of Administration Trials and Hearings arguing that one of the citations, “failure to safeguard the public during construction”, doesn’t apply to the case because the victim was not a member of the public but a worker at the construction site. Lendlease also argues that the violation was issued based on an inspection that occurred 3 days after the accident and therefore it didn’t reflect the conditions at the time of the fatal construction accident.

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