With three construction worker fatalities already in 2011, it is very important that the Department of Buildings addresses New York construction accident attorneys’ concerns about the deteriorating state of construction safety in the city. In a nod to these concerns, the New York City Department of Buildings recently posted the agenda for this year’s annual Construction Safety Week on its website. The Annual Construction Safety Week will last from 25 April to 29 April. According to the agenda, the event is likely to be marked by extensive discussions on accident prevention, safe scaffolding and demolition and community partnerships.
There have already been three construction accident fatalities in the city of New York this year alone. The most recent accident occurred in February, when a group of workers was working on an elevator shaft 70 feet above ground. Two of the workers fell to their deaths. For many of us, this was a shocking reminder of the continued dangers in the construction sector, in spite of efforts to prevent deaths in the industry.
Every year, more than 1,000 construction workers are killed in accidents in the workplace, and many more are left with serious and debilitating injuries. Last year saw a slight drop in construction accident fatalities in the city of New York, but that decline seems to have stalled, judging by the fatality rate this year. The Department of Buildings needs to revisit what it is currently doing to enhance construction safety, and see if greater oversight could prevent such accidents in the future. For instance, in the accident that killed the two workers, the site had been the subject of several violations by the Department of Buildings earlier. Increased oversight of a company with extensive violations to its name could possibly have saved those lives.