In order to prevent injuries to construction workers and those in the general public, measures should be taken to ensure that job sites are safe. Construction injuries can be devastating and can even lead to fatalities.
Last year, New York City experienced a nearly 40 percent increase in construction site accidents. In response to that increase, the Department of Buildings conducted a survey. The results were a bit startling.
While 55 percent of job sites appear to be safe, 13 percent had seriously concerning issues. In fact, the issues were so concerning that work at those sites was stopped.
Officials say that low-rise buildings are particularly dangerous. Close to 90 percent of the fatal accidents occurred at low-rise building sites last year.
Part of the problem with low-rise building sites is that a full-time safety manager is typically not employed. Often, site safety coordinators work at low-rise building sites. However, they often oversee many other sites at one time.
Sadly, the buildings commissioner said that most of the accidents that occurred last year could have been prevented. Hopefully lessons have been learned and more work will be done in the future to prevent serious construction accidents.
When construction accidents occur, workers are usually able to collect workers’ compensation. However, depending on the situation, further legal action may be appropriate and necessary. New York City residents would likely agree that hard-working construction workers and innocent passersby should not have to face financial hardships after they are injured in a construction site accident.
Source: New York Daily News, “City report: Close to half of all construction sites raise safety concerns,” Francesca Trianni and Niki Blasina, April 30, 2013
