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Aggressive Lawyers for the Seriously Injured

New York City Construction Worker Safety Bill

By Michael LoGiudice
Founding Attorney

On Wednesday, September 27, 2017, the New York City Council unanimously voted in favor of Intro 1447-C, a bill aimed at improving construction site safety for all workers present. The new safety requirements contained in this piece of legislation come in response to the injury and fatality rates that plague New York construction sites. In fact, less than two weeks prior to the vote on Intro 1447-C, two construction workers died on separate Manhattan job sites on the same day. Both sustained fatal injuries from falling. Between 2007 and 2014, an average of 20 people died every year on the job working construction.

Construction work requires a great deal of care and safety measures put in place to protect workers from potentially serious and fatal injuries. If you have been injured on a construction site where someone in charge of the site was negligent in their duty to keep you safe, you may have a right to compensation above and beyond that you receive from workers comp. Attorney Michael LoGiudice understands that being injured on the job can not only be physically painful, but it can place undue stress on things like your financial situation. He’s here to fight for you and your right to monetary compensation.

What is the new New York City Construction Worker Safety Bill, Intro 1447-C?

Historically, New York City construction workers were only required to receive 10 hours of safety training in order to be qualified to work on buildings taller than 10 stories. It is surprising that in a notoriously dangerous industry, so little safety training was required. That is why the New York City Council developed Intro 1447-C, a bill aimed at improving the safety of all construction site workers.

First and foremost, the bill requires construction workers to go through at least 40 hours of safety training. The cost of training may prevent some workers from securing gainful employment and so the bill also created a fund for those workers who could not afford this expense. In fact, there will be $5 million in funding for these workers at a financial disadvantage.

Additionally, the bill creates a task force of 14 people that will include union worker representatives, as well as representatives from both minority- and women-owned businesses. The task force will monitor whether the training hours are being met. Additionally, the task force will ultimately determine whether the required safety training hours will be raised from 40 to 55 for workers.

While the full force of this bill does not go into effect until 2020, the requirements of this new law will be gradually incorporated into construction site safety training standards. Workers are expected to complete the requisite 10 hours of safety training prior to March 1, 2018, if they have not done so already. Workers will then have 6 months to get a minimum of 20 more hours of safety training.

Hopefully, the bill will achieve it’s intended purpose of helping ensure the safety of construction site workers and, as Mayor Bill de Blasio stated, “…help get them home to their families and keep construction sites safe for everyone.”

Representing Injured Construction Site Workers

Construction site laws and safety regulations are only effective if they are complied with. If you have been injured on a construction site because of an unsafe condition or a violation of a safety regulation, you may be able to bring a claim seeking compensation for your injury above and beyond workers’ compensation benefits. Contact New York personal injury attorney Michael LoGiudice today.

About the Author
Michael LoGiudice handles all personal injury and medical malpractice claims. He is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School (1997) and has many verdicts and settlements totaling in the tens of millions of dollars.
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