You would think workers’ safety on a work site should be first and foremost on everyone’s agenda. Workers’ safety is of the utmost importance and employers should do everything in their power to make sure that their workers’ health and welfare are protected. Unfortunately, in New York, as developers and construction companies push forward with new development, construction workers’ safety is often compromised in the interest of speed and frugality, and while the state has a comprehensive body of labor laws in place to protect workers, such incidents are still unfortunately too common an occurrence.
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, construction is one of the most dangerous industries nationally, accounting for over 20% of all workplace deaths in 2009. Even though Labor Law sec. 240, known as the “Scaffold Law” is in place to protect construction site employees working at elevated heights, accidents involving falls from high places still remain a leading cause of injury and death at New York construction sites. Nationally, almost a third of the construction fatalities referenced above for 2009 involved falls from elevated heights at construction sites. As recently as this week, a construction worker who had been helping to complete the building of WTC 4 had fallen 5 to 6 feet onto a steel rebar resulting in serious injuries. This is a far too common occurrence to ignore and simply hope for the best.
Plans to reform the “Scaffold Law” itself may create an immense challenge for injured construction workers. “There are forces at work in the New York State Senate to put an end to the absolute liability of contractors when an accident occurs on a construction site due to the negligence of a worker. While these changes to the current law may help decrease costs for the contractor, it would severely increase the risk for the construction worker. If an on-site accident should occur, trying to figure out who is at fault can become quite complex. Injured construction workers would no longer have the comfort of knowing they will be taken care of should an injury occur on the job. Workers would need to hire legal representation in order to prove they were not the cause of the injuries in order to get the assistance they deserve. Contractors also would not be required to adhere to strict regulations regarding the safety of the construction site such as employing properly constructed scaffolding. This is a scary thought for those who put their life on the line every day in order to earn a living.
The construction industry is dangerous, where accidents are frequent and unpredictable. The current “Scaffold Law” has not eliminated falls as the leading cause of injury and death at construction sites, and the reforms under consideration will further put construction workers in danger. These brave workers deserve to be protected by the law. Unfortunately, the rights of injured construction workers and what they are entitled to are often left open for debate.
1. U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, Fatal Occupational Injuries by Industry and Event or Exposure 2009, available at http://stats.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0241.pdf
2. Long Island Press, WTC Construction Worker Impaled, Marcus, Matthew, 2012, http://www.longislandpress.com/2012/06/27/wtc-construction-worker-impaled/
3. FindLaw, New York Lawmakers Debate Reforms to Scaffolding Law, 2012, http://knowledgebase.findlaw.com/kb/2012/May/523682.html
