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Accidents involving scaffolding keep happening in New York

On Behalf of | Nov 14, 2018 | Construction Accidents

At a time when the construction industry is enjoying an upswing in projects in The Big Apple, related injuries and fatalities are also on the rise.

One of the ongoing concerns is injury from scaffolding accidents on New York City construction sites.

Curbing safety violations

The Buildings Department took positive steps toward increasing safety in 2016 when it hired 140 new inspectors and increased the penalties for safety violations. The DOB sought to increase readiness on these fronts in view of the impending building boom: a record 45,242 hardhats were hired in 2017, according to U.S. Department of Labor Statistics. Construction projects in New York City are on the rise and despite the increased interest in safety, accidents continue to happen including those involving scaffolding. Construction workers know about the dangers and understand that serious injuries or death come with the job.

Missing planks

In October 2017, two workers at a construction site in the Bronx fell 20 feet to the ground from the scaffolding they were using. The men were installing stone slabs on the side of a 12-story building when the accident happened. They fell through the gap created by three missing planks and both went to the hospital with head and neck injuries. The Buildings Department found that end railings were also missing from the scaffolding and issued a partial stop-work order on the project.

Falling debris

From January through July of 2018, falling debris on New York City construction sites injured 50 people. July was a particularly difficult month for scaffolding incidents. One worker died on a Morningside Heights project when a piece of scaffolding fell on him. In an Upper East Side incident, a scaffold frame fell and knocked a construction superintendent unconscious.

The mayor steps in

From small building projects to monumental skyscrapers, federal statistics show that construction is the most dangerous job in the city. In the first seven months of 2018, eight people died in construction accidents and 469 people sustained injuries. The figures prompted the mayor to put a new safety initiative in place that requires hardhat workers to take more training.

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for a Carpenter who was injured when the scaffold he was working upon collapsed.

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for a 35 year old Cement and Concrete worker from Queens who sustained serious injuries to his back when he slipped on debris and refuse.

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$1.2 Million

for a Construction worker and young father in the Bronx who was fatally electrocuted while on a scaffold.

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for two sisters in high school who sustained serious injuries when struck by a vehicle that mounted the sidewalk in Brooklyn as they waited for the bus to take them to school.

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for a woman injured as a passenger in an accident involving a bus and a car in the Bronx.

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for a man severely burned in his apartment by excessively hot shower water (Sept. 2020).

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$660,000

verdict for a 35 year old Cement and Concrete laborer who was injured when the scaffold he was walking upon collapsed.

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$650,000

for a cement and concrete worker who slipped and fell over construction debris.

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for a Cement and Concrete worker who injured his back as a result of slipping upon a discarded pipe and falling down a flight of steps.

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$500,000

for a Nursing Home resident injured due to lack of proper care.

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$325,000

for a woman who sustained multiple serious injuries to her shoulder as a result of a trip and fall upon a defective sidewalk at a construction project in Manhattan.

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$250,000

verdict in the exact amount demanded by our office for our client, but refused by the responsible defendants, was awarded by the jury to our client who sustained a fractured elbow as a result of a fall upon a badly broken sidewalk.

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$325,000

for a young woman who sustained a fractured ankle as a result of a fall on soapy steps in her apartment building in the Bronx.

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$495,000

for a young mother who was struck by a car while crossing the street near her home in Queens sustaining serious injuries to her leg requiring the surgical placement of a metal plate and screws.

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$600,000

for a woman who sustained multiple injuries as a passenger in a motor vehicle accident.

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$425,000

was secured by our office for a Cement and Concrete worker injured when a work area collapsed beneath him.

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$400,000

for a woman struck from behind by a car as she walked to a supermarket in a shopping center parking lot in Yonkers.

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$200,000

for a young man, 15 years of age, who sustained a partial tear of the rotator cuff of his right shoulder, which has now healed without any limitation upon his activities.

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$325,000

for a school principal in the Bronx who tripped and fell over a construction plate in the school parking lot.

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$300,000

for a young Cement and Concrete worker who was struck by falling debris dislodged from a building by a swinging crane.

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$250,000

for a Cement and Concrete worker injured as a result of a fall at a Manhattan construction site.

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$300,000

for a school teacher in the Bronx who sustained an injury to her shoulder when she tripped and fell due to negligently placed computer wiring.

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$275,000

to a Construction laborer doing bridge work whose arm was fractured when falling construction material caused him to fall into the East River and onto debris.

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$450,000

for a child injured when a table fell on him in a laundromat in Queens.

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$450,000

verdict for a Volunteer Firefighter in Westchester who sustained injuries in the course of fighting a fire.

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