New York is a city that is always rebuilding itself – literally. There is construction going on in all of the boroughs year-round. The construction industry offers many New York City residents an opportunity to make good money – but at a price.
Everyone knows that construction work can be dangerous, especially in a densely-populated city full of skyscrapers. However, the total number of deaths and injuries at New York City construction sites has been significantly increasing for the past five years.
In fact, there were 744 injuries reported at New York City construction sites in fiscal year 2017-18, City & State New York reported. The means an average of more than two accidents per day.
Year-old NYC City Council safety law criticized
In effort to improve safety at construction sites, the New York City Council implemented a new law last year that requires all workers at construction sites in the city to take mandatory safety training.
However, the law, called Local Law 196, is being criticized because the deadline that workers have to complete the training continues to be pushed back. There are also reports of phony safety training and fraudulent certificates of completion being sold.
Workers had until March 1, 2018 to complete the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s 10-hour safety class under the law. Workers currently have until Dec. 1 to complete at least 30 hours of safety training and must carry a card certifying completion of the training.
Workers have until May 1, 2019 to complete an additional 10 hours of safety training, for a total of 40 hours.
Our firm continues to fight for injured workers
It remains to be seen whether the law will have a positive effect on reducing construction accidents in the city. What we do know is that we will continue to fight for fair compensation on behalf of workers who are injured at New York City construction sites.