$550,000 Construction Site Injury Settlement in Staten Island

First day on the job at a Staten Island construction site. No safety orientation. No hazard markings. He stepped off a truck and his ankle caught on a plywood-covered ledge that was invisible against the ground. The carpenters who laid the plywood didn't mark it. The general contractor didn't warn him. A concealed hazard on a construction site — and a worker who was never told it was there.

Concealed Hazard on a Staten Island Construction Site

Our client was a millwright foreman assigned to install overhead cranes at a maintenance facility in Staten Island that was being rehabilitated after Hurricane Sandy. It was his first day on the site. When he stepped off the bed of a work truck parked in one of the facility bays, his foot landed on the edge of a piece of plywood that carpenters had laid over a train rail running across the floor. The plywood created a raised ledge — but the plywood's color and texture matched the surrounding floor so closely that the elevation change was invisible. Our client's ankle rolled on the edge of the concealed ledge, causing him to twist and fall.

The injuries to his left foot, left knee, and left ankle required medical evaluation and an extended course of treatment. Ankle injuries from twisting mechanisms can produce fractures, ligament tears, and joint damage that compromise mobility for months or permanently. The knee and foot injuries added complexity to the recovery — three connected joints in the same leg, all injured in the same incident, each requiring its own treatment protocol while the others were simultaneously healing.

No Site Safety, No Hazard Marking, No Warning

Construction sites in New York are governed by strict safety regulations — including Industrial Code requirements for hazard marking, site safety orientations for new workers, and general contractor obligations to maintain safe conditions. The plywood covering the train rail created a concealed elevation change — a trip and twist hazard that any competent safety program would have identified and marked with paint, tape, or signage. The carpenters who installed the plywood didn't mark the edges. The general contractor didn't include the concealed rail in the site hazard map. And nobody conducted a safety orientation with our client before he began work on his first day.

Our attorneys investigated the site conditions, the general contractor's safety program (or lack thereof), the decision to cover the rail with unmarked plywood, and the failure to orient new workers to known hazards. The evidence established multiple safety failures: a concealed hazard that should have been marked, a missing site safety orientation for a new worker, and a general contractor that failed to maintain the kind of site awareness that New York's Industrial Code demands. Each failure independently contributed to our client's injury — together, they painted a picture of a construction site where safety was an afterthought.

"First day on the site. No safety walkthrough. No one told him about the train rail hidden under plywood in the bay floor. The plywood looked exactly like the rest of the ground — you could not tell there was a ledge there. He stepped off the truck, his ankle hit the edge of the plywood, and he went down. The general contractor had a duty to mark that hazard and orient new workers to the site conditions. They did neither. Our client paid for those failures with injuries to his foot, knee, and ankle." — Jared Dubin, Attorney

$550,000 Mediation Result for a Staten Island Construction Site Injury

This $550,000 mediation result covers treatment for left foot, left knee, and left ankle injuries, rehabilitation, lost wages, and the permanent mobility limitations our client now manages. It holds the general contractor accountable for a concealed hazard that should have been marked and a safety program that failed to protect a worker on his very first day.

If you were injured on a construction site due to unmarked hazards or missing safety protocols, our premises liability attorneys have experience with construction site negligence claims in Staten Island and are ready to review your case.