Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Tagged with bronx construction accident

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ambulance at accident sceneThree construction workers suffered burn injuries at a construction site in the Bronx on Monday afternoon. These workers failed to provide proper proof of training and did not possess a permit for using a propane torch. They were performing a waterproofing job near Holland Avenue and East Gun Hill Road when the incident occurred. The workers were burned as some of the waterproofing material caught fire. The severity of the incident prompted a massive response from the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).

The construction site in question has become a hotbed of safety violations, with New York City issuing over 25 violations in the past year alone. Shockingly, twelve of these violations are still open and directly relate to construction safety concerns. This pattern of negligence is deeply concerning and suggests a lack of commitment to providing a safe working environment for construction workers. On the day of the incident, five new violations were issued, further illustrating the disregard for safety protocols.

History of Stop Work Orders

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Bronx DA ClarkThree contractors have been indicted by the Bronx District Attorney’s office for manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges in the death of a construction worker. The victim was Segundo Manuel Huerta Mayancela, who was crushed by 1,000 pounds of debris at the construction site in 2019. 5 other construction workers suffered injury in the accident. The contractors involved in the incident have been charged for falsifying credentials, flouting safety standards and disregarding worker’s protections.

The contractors were charged for creating egregiously dangerous conditions at the building site, where they flouted building safety codes and ignored worker’s protections. According to the investigation carried out jointly by the NYC Department of Investigation and the Bronx DA, the contractors falsified credentials and permits and ignored oversight requirements, creating a dangerously unstable structure that led to Mayancela’s death.

The Bronx DA, Darcel D. Clark, said that the death of Segundo Manuel Huerta Mayancela was entirely preventable and that the construction site was a death trap waiting to happen. She emphasized that workers are not expendable, and anyone who puts construction workers at risk in an already hazardous profession would be held accountable. Clark also highlighted that the case predates the Carlos’ Law, which was enacted to create greater accountability for tragic and avoidable injury to workers at New York construction sites and increase penalties for criminal corporate liability for the death or serious physical injury of an employee.

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6 hard hats were injured on construction sites in New York City during the month of April compared to 47 a month earlier and 44 in April 2019. 4 workers were injured on Bronx construction sites and 2 of them on Brooklyn sites. 4 workers suffered minor injuries and 2 others who were injured by a plywood piece  on a windy day, required hospitalization. No fatalities were reported to the DOB during the month of April. The significant decline in construction accident injuries in the city is related to the Covid-19 restrictions that allowed only essential construction sites to be open during the month of April.

Construction Accident Injuries NYC April 2020
In one of the accidents a plumber accidentally screwed his own finger during a plumbing operation. He suffered a cut and was treated at an emergency room. He was then released in stable condition. While the DOB determined that the accident was caused by the worker’s error, inspectors found several safety violations at the construction site located on 1325 Jerome Avenue in the Bronx and issued several citations including: failure to maintain vertical netting, failure to maintain the site clean, failure to provide covers for holes on the floor, failure to protect an elevator shaft opening, failure to install a handrail system on stairways as well as failure to notify the DOB of a change of site safety manager. A partial stop work order was issued.

In an other accident, also in the Bronx, a worker suffered muscle cramps after another worker with whom he was carrying a PVC pipe suddenly put his end down.

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A hard hat died and five others were injured after a building under construction partially collapsed in the Bronx. 48 year old Segundo Huerta, a father of five, was working on a construction site located at 92 East 208 Street in the Bronx, on Monday around noon, when the third floor of the building started to crumble and falling on workers below. Segundo and his colleagues were hit and buried in concrete and debris.  When  the firefighters arrived, Segundo was trapped and by the time they were able to recover him he had succumbed to fatal injuries.

The other construction workers injured  were Segundo’s family members or good friends. His 21 year old nephew Manuel Giovanni Huerta suffered a serious spine injury. His cousin Santiago Mayancela suffered a torn ear and a leg injury. Luis Romero, the brother of Segundo’s sister in law suffered a serious head injury. Two friends from the family Luis Antonmio Quizhpi and a man identified as Jose were also injured. The group of workers had been working together on construction  sites for more than 12 years. Segundo, originally from Ecuator, had been living in the US for 19 years. The family and relatives that gathered at the scene of the accident were heart broken.

OVERLOADED FLOOR CAVED IN

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NYC explosionA construction worker was critically injured and two others suffered serious personal injury in a gas explosion that rocked the walls of the science lab at John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx, NYC. 36 year Luigi Barillaro, 38 year old James Intriago and 53 year old Charles Marullo, were all working for the plumbing and heating company Mar-Sal Plumbing & Heating Inc., based on Pitkin Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens, NYC. The company was hired to install a tabletop gas valve as part of a science lab construction project located on the sixth floor of the building. The 3 men had been working all day and the room was filled with gas but they apparently didn’t detect the smell of gas because they had been desensitized to it. At one point Luigi Barillaro lit a match to check if the gas was working, sparking a huge explosion, blowing out the walls and sending debris flying 200 feet.

Barillaro was critically injured and had burns over most his body. He has already undergone multiple skin-grafting surgeries. Intriago and Maruallo were also still in the hospital and being treated for burns to their arms and faces.

The school was issued a full vacate order for the entire building and a safety zone was put in place along some facades. Students who were supposed to start school there on September 9 will have to be temporarily relocated.

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Domikick Deluca, a Yellow hard hat25 year old construction worker, died after falling from scaffolding yesterday.  The young worker was doing facade work at the Butler Houses on Webster Ave in Claremont in the Bronx when he lost his footing and fell 15 feet . He landed on his head and was transported to the hospital unresponsive and with severe trauma. He was declared dead when he arrived at the hospital. This construction worker is the 8th person to die in a construction accident in New York City since the beginning of the year (see previous blog) .

Read more in the NY Daily News