New York Construction Accident & Safety News

As the investigation into the recent crane accident in New York City continues, the legal gauntlet is coming down. New York Times highlights:

The city’s chief crane inspector was arrested on Friday and charged with taking bribes to allow cranes to pass inspection, the authorities said. He was also accused of taking money from a crane company that sought to ensure that its employees would pass the required licensing exam.

The man, James Delayo, 60, the acting chief inspector for the Cranes and Derricks Unit at the city’s Department of Buildings, oversaw the issuing of city licenses for crane operators. The case against him, announced by the Manhattan district attorney’s office and the city’s Department of Investigation, was filed just a week after the city’s second fatal crane collapse in less than three months.

The New York Times continues:

The charges against Mr. Delayo include third-degree bribe-receiving and first-degree tampering with public records, both felonies for which he could face up to seven years in prison. Among the charges was the accusation that he had provided a copy of the crane operator’s exam to a crane company, for which an official involved in the case said Mr. Delayo was paid about $3,000. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing, said Mr. Delayo also provided the answers.

As the chief inspector, Mr. Delayo had responsibility for overseeing the inspection of all cranes, including tower cranes, the type that collapsed in the two recent fatal accidents.

Hopefully this will help move the New York City building department one more step away from corruption and closer to paying attention to the safety of workers.

Investigators continue to probe the origins and circumstances surrounding Friday’s crane construction accident. AP points out:

NEW YORK (AP) — Investigators are examining how a worn-out part was taken off a construction crane last year, rebuilt and installed on another crane, which collapsed last week in an accident that killed two workers.

A failed weld on the crane’s turntable, which helps the crane swivel and change direction, has been the focus of the city investigation into the accident that sent the top part of the 200-foot crane crashing down on a residential neighborhood Friday.

The turntable had been removed in May 2007 from a crane building a 43-story luxury condominium tower in Manhattan after a worker saw that it was cracked, a spokeswoman for the contractor said Tuesday.

The crane’s owner, New York Crane & Equipment Corp., had a welding company repair it, and then installed it earlier this year in the crane that collapsed, an insurer for New York Crane said.

Only the coming days well tell whether the crane swivel is at fault for the tragic death of a New York City construction worker. I have no doubt that New York attorneys will be called in to represent the family of the worker.

New York City ordered broad changes on Tuesday to the way it inspects and regulates tower cranes, in the wake of a crane collapse that killed seven people on the East Side of Manhattan.

Investigators believe that the accident, on March 15, occurred as workers high on the 22-story crane were installing steel bracing to stabilize it so that additional sections could be added to make the crane taller, a process known as “jumping” the crane. The new regulations focused on that process.

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