New York Construction Accident & Safety News

A man working as a glazier on an Atlantic City hotel under construction was injured in a fall. He was installing windows on the Borgata Hotel & Casino. Rescue workers credit his safety harness for saving the construction workers life. The construction accident happened on Thursday.

Instead of falling to the ground, the man wound up wedged in a roughly 2-foot-wide space between the tower wall and a framework that holds the windows in place, according to Atlantic City Deputy Fire Chief Michael Mooney.

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More than 7 million workers nationwide are employed in construction, and construction injuries are among the most common occupational injuries. Though New York state has strict standards for construction employers and some of the nation’s lowest construction injury rates, some injuries are still inevitable. Poor safety, inadequate training, hazardous on-site conditions and faulty or old equipment are just some of the many causes of New York construction accidents.

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NYC attempts to thwart construction injuries and possible legal action by appointing a new safety chief to the ongoing WTC Construction.

Schwed, 40, will oversee all of the safety contractors and coordinate all activities on the 16-acre site. Work at the site began in 2005 and construction is under way for the Sept. 11 memorial, a transit hub, the Freedom Tower, and towers 2, 3 and 4. The entire project is scheduled for completion in 2012, Port Authority officials said.

“It’s of the utmost concern that the safety of the employees and the general public are all taken into account and that this unprecedented project is being done in a safe manner,” Schwed said.

Schwed, who worked for the Port Authority from 1993 to 1997, said he will also maintain a close relationship with site owner Silverstein Properties and its contractors and insurance representatives.

Port Authority officials said no one has died at the World Trade Center construction site.

New safety chief to oversee WTC construction

A probe into scaffolding incidents has prompted action from New York City to start getting tougher on construction workers that use scaffolding. There’s no doubt that this probe with unearth new violations and possibly some cover ups, prompting new legal action.

Deadly falls and dangerous collapses have prompted the Buildings Department to launch a month-long safety probe of 1,500 scaffolds and sidewalk sheds.

“The point of this sweep is to keep workers and the public safe,” Commissioner Patricia Lancaster said. “Our inspectors will have zero tolerance for safety policies that do not meet the building code’s design and construction safety standards.”

The department also will for the first time require builders to register scaffolds less than 40 feet tall, and is working with the Department of Design and Construction to develop safer and better-looking sidewalk sheds.

The probe comes a week after the latest in a series of Daily News editorials demanding such tougher enforcement.

More info at the New York Daily News: Scaffold Probes to Begin

A reported surge in skyscraper deaths has prompted new laws in New York City.

Fatalities on high rises — projects of 15 stories or more — rose to five last year from one in 2006 and injuries increased 63 percent, to 52, according to the New York City Buildings Department. More than 60 percent involved materials falling during concrete pouring.

The new laws will affect building that meet a minimum height or “story”.

The city will now require site safety managers for projects of 10 or more stories, or 150 feet in height, instead of the current limit of at least 15 floors or 200 feet, she said in the prepared remarks. Lancaster also proposed requiring “concrete contractors to designate a concrete safety manager” to monitor building methods.

The department is concentrating on site maintenance, including incorrectly installed concrete molds and wood and other materials left lying around, said Lancaster’s first deputy, Robert LiMandri, in a phone interview.

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