The annual Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction started Today and will last all week-long.
In 2019, among the 1,061 construction workers fatalities recorded in the US by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 401 of them were caused by falls. Most of these accidents could have been prevented if adequate safety measures were in place. Many fall fatalities could be avoided by following these 5 basic rules:
A group of New York contractors are asking US Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to waive the NY Scaffold Law on the Hudson River Project.
Fall is the number one cause of fatalities among construction workers in New York City and nationwide. Most of these fatalities are preventable and are the result of negligence. In New York, the Scaffold Safety Law ensures that New York construction workers and their family are being fully protected if they are injured or killed while working on scaffolds, ladders or other similar devices. If a contractor violates this law by not providing adequate safety equipment to his workers and if as a result, a worker dies or sustains injuries, the contractor will be liable for the accident and a lawsuit can be brought against him by the construction worker or by his family.
In the case of the Hudson Tunnel project, a group of contractors consisting of the Minority & Women Contractors & Developers Association, the Associated General Contractors of New York State and the General Contractors Association of New York as well as the New York Sate Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials have asked the US Transportation Secretary to replace the New York Scaffold Safety Law with a comparative negligence standard. They argue that the New York Scaffold increases their insurance cost.
A pedestrian died from his injuries after being struck by an e-bike in NYC. The accident took place on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. 71 year old Hing Chung, the manager of the Dim Sum restaurant Jing Fong, stepped on the bike lane between two cars and was hit by a 39 year old cyclist travelling North on the bike lane. The accident occurred a few steps away from his restaurant. The e-bike rider stayed at the scene of the accident and was not charged.
Hing Chung was hospitalized and later on died from his injuries at the hospital. The restaurant manager immigrated from Hong Kong more than 30 years ago and was a friendly and funny man who was loved by his clients and employees. (read more in the Gothamist)
Protecting children from sexual abuse, mistreatment, emotional abuse or neglect is an every day combat that we should all join as a Nation.
In a recent article, Daniel Pollack, an attorney and professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in New York City and Elisa Reiter,an attorney, Board Certified in Family Law and Child Welfare Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, look back at 2020 and how the pandemic affected children suffering abuse.
A police officer who was directing traffic away from a car accident was killed by a driver who was drunk, high on marijuana and who was driving with a suspended license.
The accident took place around 2:00 am on Tuesday morning on the Long Island Expressway near Francis Lewis Boulevard in Fresh Meadow. 32 year old Jessica Beauvais had just left a studio where she had been recording a podcast and during which she was drinking and vaping. She was speeding and did not slow down as she passed the traffic cones and flashing lights that the highway police had previously installed to signal the previous accident scene. She crashed into NYPD Officer Anastasios Tsakos and send him flying 100 feet. The impact was so strong that her windshield was smashed and the front of her car destroyed. She did not even stop. She continued to drive dragging an orange cone from the scene under her car. She was arrested by police a few exits later and asked the police: what did I do? She later apologized.
Beauvais who has a teenage son and is his sole provider is facing up to 15 years in prison. She is facing 13 counts including vehicular manslaughter, DWI, reckless driving, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, driving with a suspended license. Several other NYPD officers at the scene just had the time to run away from her destructive path but Tsakos died.
1,393 pedestrians, 695 bicyclists, 2,564 passengers and 4,332 motorists were injured in car accidents in NYC during the first 3 months of the year compared to respectively 2,206, 715, 3,306 and 5,032 during the same period a year earlier. After a peak in the first quarter of 2019 the number of injuries sustained in crashes in the city declined in 2020 and reached a record low in 2021.
New York car accident fatalities followed the same trend. 22 pedestrians, 1 cyclist, 5 passengers and 10 motorists lost their life in traffic accidents in New York during the first quarter of 2021 compared to respectively 26, 1, 4 and 10 during the first 3 months of 2020.
In a city that has not yet returned to its usual level of activity, it make sense that less people would be injured or killed in crashes.
Our partner Anthony Gair has carved out a reputation as one of the best product liability lawyers in NYC. Yesterday he talked to CNBC journalist Lauren Thomas about the refusal by Peloton to comply with the Consumer Product Safety Commission and recall its high-end treadmill Tread+.
Multiple children and a pet have been injured and recently a child died in a Peloton Tread+ treadmill accidents but Peloton has been very reluctant to cooperate with the federal safety agency. The company is fighting a request to recall the dangerous product and refuses to provide the name of the child who recently died after getting stuck under the high end Peloton treadmill.
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) was created in 1918. Its goal was to standardize various manufacturing, engineering or safety processes. The first project focused on pipe thread sizes. In 1992, ANSI developed the “ANSI/ASSE Z359.1 American National Standard” for personal fall arrest systems in non-construction occupations. This standard was revised and improved significantly since it was released and has become a worldwide reference while designing and testing the performance of products and techniques used by construction workers while working at heights.
This Afternoon at 2:00 pm ET and ahead of the National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls, the Center for Construction Research and Training is hosting a free webinar with members of the ANSI Z359 Accredited Standards Committee. The webinar will be a Q&A panel during which participants will learn tips and techniques to use the ANSI/ASSE Z359 standards on construction sites and protect workers from fall. (click here to register for the event and send your questions to the panel).
While adhering to the ANSI/ASSE Z359 standards is voluntary, those who do so are keeping up to date with the most recent findings related to protecting workers from falls. Very often regulators such as OSHA are referring to ANSI standards to develop regulations.
A cruel and reckless driver blows a stop sign, hits a cyclist critically injuring him, drives away, comes back, takes a look at the cyclist, gets back in his car and speeds away.
The accident occurred at night last week in the Bronx. A 46 year-old cyclist was riding his bike through the intersection of Dudley and Edison Avenues in Pelham Bay when a driver blew the stop sign and slammed into him. A video surveillance first shows the driver taking off. He then returned to the scene of the accident, took a look at the victim who was suffering critical injury and took off again. The victim was found by EMS and rushed to the hospital. (Read more in the Daily News)
Bicycle accidents injuries in the Bronx have been on the rise during this period of the year compared to the same period last year. According to the most recent NYPD traffic statistics, 17 people were injured in bicycle accidents in the Bronx during the week of April 5 to April 11 compared to 2 during the same week a year earlier. Last years numbers were much lower because the city was observing the Covid19 lock-down and the streets were mostly empty. The same can be said when looking at statistics on a 4 week basis. 54 people were injured in Bronx bicycle accidents between March 14 and April 11 2021 compared to 20 for the same period a year earlier.
A faulty medical determination of child abuse or neglect can destroy the life of a child and its family. “Measure twice, cut once,” is a great rule for carpenters; it’s also an important lesson for Child Protective Services.
In a recent article, Daniel Pollack, an attorney and professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in New York City, and Elisa Reiter, a Board Certified Attorney in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, look at the recent House Bill 2536 that was recently passed in Texas. The bill allows parents who are accused of child abuse or neglect to ask for a second medical opinion before CPS terminates their parental rights. The bill especially seeks to protect parents of special needs children.
The bill was created after the family of Drake Pardo, a special needs child, went through an unjustified ordeal with CPS. The drama started when the Pardo family filed a complaint against a hospital that did not take care of them proprely. In a retaliation move, a doctor at the hospital filed a complaint with Child Protective Services based on a faulty medical report. As a result, Child Services showed up at the Pardo’s door in April 2019 and immediately removed 4 year old Drake from his parents. The parents had to fight an intense legal battle and were not allowed to take their child back until October 2019.
New York Personal Injury Attorneys Blog