Raphaelson & Levine lawyers' visit to Albany this week was to ensure the very protections that the family of today's killed construction worker will rely upon and need to claim support for the economic loss that his death will cause. This man was unfairly killed by another falling crane.
New York's current law, known as the Scaffold Law, Labor Law 240, will provide protection for the family of the worker that today was struck by a crane and killed. In Albany this week, Raphaelson and Levine lobbied the senate and assembly to keep this law on the books. The law holds owners and general contractors strictly liable for safety protection from gravity-related accidents. Greedy insurance companies want to change the law to shift the burden for safety protection from the owner/general contractor to the worker. This is wrong. New York workers face great danger and the sophisticated owners and general contractors that are pushing jobs to finish faster than ever must be the ones responsible for safety. They have the resources and the financial windfall to safeguard the workplace and gravity-related accidents. New York will not accept profits over safety. Worker safety first always!