Tougher NYC Construction Rules Planned After Injury Increase
A rapidly rising number of deaths and injuries at high-rise construction sites after a building boom is prompting New York City officials to recommend more stringent safety regulations.
Among the new rules included in proposed municipal legislation: contractors must register with the city, and, although high-rises are defined as buildings of at least 15 stories, safety managers will be required on buildings of 10 stories or more, Bloomberg reports. The new rules focus, in particular, on concrete work, because that is a significant source of construction injuries.
Two men have died during the past three months after falling from concrete operations, and a total of five construction workers died last year. The number of reported injuries increased more than 60 percent, to 52, the news agency writes. However, deaths appear to be higher in other major cities, including London and Tokyo, although statistics are not compiled in a uniform manner worldwide.
“The construction industry in general, and concrete operations in particular, need more regulation,” says Patricia Lancaster, the New York buildings commissioner, in remarks prepared for a city council hearing today. “The number of accidents reported at high-rises is growing faster than the number of sites themselves.”
An official from a group representing 200 labor unions in New York indicated after a construction death last month that productivity quotas and tight deadlines may be part of the problem: “Pressure on workers to produce leads to situations where they may feel they have to take shortcuts to build up to speeds that employers are demanding,” says Joel Shufro, executive director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health.
