NEW YORK BUILDINGS COMMISSIONER REPORT REVEALS GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS FOR NEW YORK AREA CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
Deaths due to accidents at New York area construction sites decreased by 84% in 2010 when compared with the preceding year. But the total number of construction injuries and death rose from 151 in 2009 to 224 in 2010, with the total number of injuries to workers involved in these accidents increasing from 178 in 2009 to 246 in 2010, according to a recent report by the New York Buildings Commissioner.
According to the report, the decrease in fatalities cannot be attributed to a reduction in the amount of construction activity alone in the city in 2010. While the report does note a 33% decrease in the number of building permits issued last year, fatal accidents at construction sites decreased by a far greater margin – 3 deaths in 2010 compared to 19 I 2009, 12 in 2008 and 18 in 2007.
The Building Department credits the decrease in fatalities to an increase in oversight along with new initiatives to raise awareness of safety throughout the entire construction industry, which came about as a result of 2 catastrophic crane collapses in 2008 that drew headlines that riveted public attention to the potential hazards of having large-scale construction activity taking place in heavily-populated inner city neighborhoods.
“The reduction of accidents and deaths in the workplace over the past few years is encouraging news,” Howard Raphaelson, partner in the New York construction accident law firm of Raphaelson & Levine, said. “I commend the New York City Building Commissioner's office for the role it has played in improving safety conditions at construction sites.
“Along with the Commissioner's office,” the New York construction injury attorney added, “I also would like to point out the role the New York State Trial Lawyers Association has played in preventing work-related injury and death; in particular, the many trips Association members have made to Albany in the past year, where repeated meetings with New York State legislators helped stave off efforts by building owners, developers, contractors and other industry groups who have made a concerted, and well-funded effort to weaken existing workplace safety laws that are designed to protect workers.”
