Archinect - News

President Biden lays out workplace heat safety plan to protect workers

2023-07-31T17:06:00-04:00

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced plans to increase protections for workers facing extreme heat, as temperatures across the U.S. soar and large swaths of the country face heat advisories.

The President’s announcement comes as close to 40% of the U.S. population faces heat advisories, according to the National Weather Service. The country currently has no federal standards on workplace heat safety, and there has been no timeline for the finalization of one. As reported by HR Dive, heat has become the number one cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S.

Previously on Archinect: Lack of heat standards for construction workers increases safety risks as temperatures reach record-breaking levels

Biden directed the U.S. Department of Labor to issue hazard alerts notifying employers and employees about ways to stay protected from extreme heat. The Department will also increase its inspections of at-risk workplaces such as farms and construction sites and heighten its enforcement of heat safety violations. The Biden administration aims to invest $7 million to develop more accurate weather predictions and $152 million to improve drinking water infrastructure in California, C...

2021 was an increasingly deadly year for construction workers in New York

2023-02-24T14:24:00-05:00

In 2021, 12.1 per 100,000 construction workers in New York state died on the job, a 9% increase from 11.1 the year before, according to a new report from the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. The total number of workers who died in the state increased to 61 in 2021, up from 41 in 2020, reported NYCOSH, a membership organization that represents workers, unions and health and safety professionals.

The Committee also found that one-quarter of all workplace fatalities across New York state took place on construction sites, a repeat of the figure contained in the Deadly Skyline Report for 2020. Latino workers accounted for 25.5% of the deaths recorded, keeping pace with a larger grisly national trend. Overall, an average of 53.6 workers have died on job sites each year in New York over the past decade.

The NYC Department of Buildings had the same year enacted “zero tolerance” safety sweeps resulting in nearly 1,500 stop-work orders. The reform efforts were added to recently in the form of the new Carlos’ Law, which will increase the financial penalties on employers in negligent death cases from $10,000 to $500,000 (to a maximum of $1 million). In New York City alone, where 20 workers died, some 89% of construction sites had some form of safety issue, according to a ...

New report highlights inadequate oversight of building construction sites by the NYC Department of Buildings

2022-09-14T10:00:00-04:00

According to a new report by the New York State Comptroller’s Office, 89% of the visited active construction sites across New York City had safety issues, highlighting the need for the improvement of the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) oversight of construction sites.

Between June 10, 2021 and August 31, 2021, officials from the New York State Comptroller visited 43 construction sites in all five boroughs of New York City. Eighteen of these sites were actively under construction at the time of the visits, and 16 of the 18 sites had a total of 77 safety issues. They included not having a site safety manager; missing or incomplete site safety logs and daily inspection records; and no documentation of workers completing required site safety training or attending mandatory safety meetings.

Previously on Archinect: NYC Department of Buildings shuts down 322 construction sites in 'zero-tolerance' safety sweep

Additionally, the report found that DOB did not issue violations for ...

An adaptive-reuse project in the Bronx has become New York's most notorious construction site

2022-06-07T09:00:00-04:00

This site, where an old building is being transformed into a charter school, has just distinguished itself from the 40,000 other major construction projects in New York City by having its third worker fatality in less than three years. No other construction site in New York City has had this many separate fatal incidents since at least 2003, when the Department of Buildings began keeping electronic records. But despite the pattern of deaths, the consequences have been negligible.

In full view of the Major Deegan Expressway, 20 Bruckner Boulevard, known throughout the New York area as the site of the iconic former History Channel (and later iHeartRadio) billboard, was once the ice storehouse of a former Yankees owner and is now being transformed into a charter school by developer Maddd Equities, who has had a scant $28,000 in fines levied against them in the past years despite the record-high fatalities.

Being a construction worker is one of the most lethal occupations in New York City, with rates of injury and death rising ahead of the pandemic before falling slightly owing to the economic downturn. Most of the men profiled in the Times are nonunion immigrant laborers working for $120-per-day to start, with some being recruited from homeless shelters to meet demands. An OSHA investigation revealed that some deaths were not properly reported for weeks.

Previously on Archinect: Nearly 1 in 4 workplace deaths in New York occur in construction

Multiple stop-work...

Nearly 1 in 4 workplace deaths in New York occur in construction

2022-02-23T15:18:00-05:00

Construction work in New York — city and statewide — remains the most deadly profession in the country. A total of 41 laborers died on the job in New York state in 2020, a decrease from 2019. However, fewer workers climbed scaffolding and pounded nails during the pandemic, so the rate of deaths still rose.

According to an analysis of data from the New York Department of Buildings, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducted by the labor group New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), workplace deaths in construction accounted for 24% of on-the-job fatalities in New York, compared to 21% nationwide.

Previously on Archinect: NYC Department of Buildings' 'zero tolerance' safety sweeps have resulted in 1,499 stop-work orders

Latino construction workers are disproportionately impacted, accounting for 18% of fatalities, yet only 10% of the population. In addition, nearly 80% of worker deaths were on non-union job sites. The NYCOSH has called on lawmakers to expand regulations that hold contractors liable for endangering workers.

NYC Department of Buildings' 'zero tolerance' safety sweeps have resulted in 1,499 stop work orders

2021-09-24T15:36:00-04:00

New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) commissioner Melanie E. La Rocca has announced the results of the department’s citywide “zero tolerance” construction safety enforcement campaign.

Since its launch on June 1, 2021, DOB inspectors have conducted safety sweeps at approximately 7,500 building construction sites across all five boroughs, issuing over 3,600 violations to contractors and site safety professionals for their failure to keep work sites safe and 1,499 stop work orders. These aggressive measures are in response to seven building construction-related deaths in New York City in the first half of 2021.

“DOB enforcement is of critical importance in promoting safety at construction sites; but the reality is that we cannot be in all places at all times,” said Commissioner La Rocca. “To protect the lives of the working men and women who are building in our city, we need our partners in the construction industry to step up and join us in pushing for enhanced round-the-clock...

NYC Department of Buildings shuts down 322 construction sites in 'zero tolerance' safety sweep

2021-07-01T17:26:00-04:00

The New York City Department of Buildings has shut down 322 construction sites across the city due to hazardous conditions in June 2021.

The DOB issued full and partial stop-work orders to the affected sites, citing more than 1,129 violations for safety and non-compliance issues. In total, the DOB has carried out safety inspections at more than 2,100 of New York’s larger and more complex construction sites. These orders are part of new “zero tolerance” safety sweeps initiated on June 1, 2021 by DOB Commissioner Melanie E. La Rocca, in response to a number of construction deaths that occurred earlier this year. Depending on the severity of safety infringements, inspectors issued enforcement actions or completely shut down sites.

Previously on Archinect: With construction injuries on the rise, NYC steps up surprise job site inspections

In addition, the DOB released a new building construction safety report early last week, that outlines construction safety trends in New York in 2019 ...

Architect killed in NYC due to neglected code violations — city tries to dodge liability, claiming NYC sidewalks are inherently dangerous

2020-10-21T12:10:00-04:00

Erica Tishman died last year after rubble fell from 729 Seventh Ave. and struck her in the head. The building had several outstanding violations with the Department of Buildings some of which her family’s lawyers say still hadn’t been addressed when the family sued the city and building owner in August for wrongful death and negligence.

According to Daily News, the city Law Department tried to dodge liability in a new Manhattan Supreme Court filing by saying the city streets are known to be dangerous, so people on sidewalks should be prepared for the worst. The city Law Department wrote: "Plaintiff(s) knew or should have known in the exercise of due/reasonable care of the risks and dangers incident to engaging in the activity alleged," as reported by Daily News. The "activity alleged" here refers to walking on a sidewalk.

NYC architect, Erica Tishman, was killed by falling masonry while walking on a sidewalk in midtown Manhattan in December, 2019

Stephen Rex Brown, writing for Daily News goes further: "In other words, the city is saying that by “voluntarily” walking down the sidewalk, Tishman assumed a risk of injury — including a risk that stonework might fall from a building not properly inspected by the city," he writes.

The case is currently pending.

With construction injuries on the rise, NYC steps up surprise job site inspections

2019-12-04T07:00:00-05:00

The surprise inspections are New York’s most aggressive effort to tighten oversight of construction sites after a surge in worker injuries as the city undergoes its biggest building boom in more than half a century... ...In the first nine months of this year — as dozens of surprise inspections were carried out daily — construction injuries fell by 26 percent to 437 from 590 in the same period the year before, according to city-data.

The surprise inspections have been carried out by a team of 38 experts in areas such as renovations, high-rise construction, scaffolding, and demolitions, reports The New York Times. The team is due to eventually grow to 53. Since September 2018, the team has completed 20,166 surprise inspections of 10,256 construction sites, according to The Times. Of those visits, 11,484 violations were issued, totaling $15 million in fines, with another 2,523 stop-work orders issued, The Times reports.

Looser Rules on Illegal Housing Sought

2013-10-15T12:11:00-04:00

New York City’s Department of Buildings issues more than 4,400 violations a year for illegally converted basements, cellars and attics that cannot be occupied because of health and safety hazards, like poor ventilation or a lack of multiple exits. But with the scarcity of affordable housing in the city and with many New Yorkers already living in makeshift apartments, some housing advocates are calling for a new approach.