Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Posted in Construction Accident

Published on:

A worker was seriously injured in a construction accident in New York yesterday afternoon. The worker fell from the second floor of  a future 62-story building located at 435 W. 31st St in Hudson Yards on the west side of Manhattan.  He was taken to the hospital in serious condition. The builder, Hunter Roberts Construction Group told the New York Daily News that they were cooperating with investigators.

A few hours before the accident happened, The NY Daily News published an article indicating that The Department of Buildings agreed to the construction of 52,618 residential units over the last fiscal year, a massive 156% increase from the previous fiscal year and a 749% increase from the post-recession low of 2010. As construction is booming, construction accidents increase as well (see our previous blog).

FullSizeRender (1)

Published on:

A worker was injured in a construction accident Friday in New York City. The accident happened at the Red Hook East Houses on Henry Street in Brooklyn, NYC. The worker was standing on scaffolding on the second floor when an AC Unit fell on him. The cooling unit was being removed from the sixth floor by other workers when it fell. The construction worker was transported to the hospital. He suffered non life threatening trauma and was hospitalized in stable condition. Read more in the NY Daily News

Red Hook East Houses

Red Hook East Houses, picture: Google Maps

 

Published on:

Pipe_installation_2During the summer, outdoor construction workers such as those raking asphalt or sweating pipes can suffer from personal injury such as dizziness, discomfort and the fogging of safety glass and put themselves and others at risk of accidents. In some cases heat exhaustion can even lead to death. According to OSHA statistics an average of 30 construction workers die every year from heat stroke.

Construction workers can mitigate these types of injuries by arriving at work rested, wearing light clothing, drinking water every 15 minutes, doing demanding tasks in early morning when the heat is lower and when resting in a shady area is possible. Workers should also check their colleagues for signs of illness. Symptoms of heat exhaustion include headaches, dizziness, lightheadedness, fainting, weakness, moist skin, mood changes such as irritability or confusion, upset stomach and vomiting. Heat stroke is an immediate threat to life. Rapid cooling with ice packs or cold water must begin at once. A victim may sweat a lot, but some may have hot, dry skin and no sweating. Either way, it’s an extreme emergency. Call 911 immediately.  For more info see the CPWR Hot Weather Toolbox

Published on:

Christian GinelliChristian Genesi, a 25 year old construction worker, fell 24 stories to his death at the beginning of May  as he was riding a temporary hoist to get to the top of a hotel that was being built on 8th Ave.  The city building inspectors who have been investigating the case found out that the hoist temporarily lost power that day and that the electrical system that powered it was installed without a permit. The elevator relied on “unapproved, unsafe, unsuitable electrical equipment” that shouldn’t have been in use, documents show.New York Wrongful Death Lawyer Howard Hershenhorn

Howard Hershenhorn was quoted in the NY Daily News stating “It’s obvious that this is an enormous tragedy, which could have absolutely been prevented had basic safety measures been put in place,” he also added Ginesi wouldn’t have died “had there been safety netting, had there been safety harness and had there been a working electrical system.” “There’s blatant violations of multiple laws in the State of New York, which caused this senseless death,” he also said.

Read the complete article here

Published on:

Two construction workers as well as several pedestrians and car passengers suffered personal injury in a crane accident in New York yesterday morning. The crane was hauling an air conditioning unit of the size of a shipping container to the top floor of a 30-story building at 261 Madison Avenue, N.Y.C. when a rigging strap broke. The unit first crashed into the side of the building before landing on Madison Avenue between 38th and 39th streets. 10 people were injured by the falling debris. The crane operating company, Skylift, had a similar accident in 2010 during which no one was injured and received two serious OSHA violations.

Published on:

Domikick Deluca, a Yellow hard hat25 year old construction worker, died after falling from scaffolding yesterday.  The young worker was doing facade work at the Butler Houses on Webster Ave in Claremont in the Bronx when he lost his footing and fell 15 feet . He landed on his head and was transported to the hospital unresponsive and with severe trauma. He was declared dead when he arrived at the hospital. This construction worker is the 8th person to die in a construction accident in New York City since the beginning of the year (see previous blog) .

Read more in the NY Daily News

 

Published on:

Shulem Benyosef suffered fatal injuries after he fell from a ladder at a construction site in Brooklyn, NYC. the 44 year old man was married and the father of two children. He was working on a rooftop at 449 20th Street in Windsor Terrace in Brooklyn when the accident happened.  Shulem was standing on the ladder when he fell from at least 30 feet. Paramedics found him on the ground with serious head trauma. He was transported to the hospital where he later died from his injuries.

Read more in JP Updates and  the NY Daily News

Published on:

New York Crane AccidentA knuckle boom crane fell on a construction worker and killed him yesterday afternoon on a construction site located at 219 E. 44th Street near Second Avenue, New York City. The crane was fitted on a truck parked in front of the building and was used to unload material that was being delivered to the construction site. 40 year old Trevor Loftus , was standing on top of the flatbed truck holding his phone when the articulated arm fell on him and killed him. Loftus served as the crane safety coordinator for Kenry Contracting of Yonkers which is his own company. According to the Buildings Department, construction material was being lifted off the truck when a mechanical failure caused the arm to collapse and killed the construction worker.
Read more in the NY Daily News 
Picture: Buck Ennis

Published on:

construction accident7 people died in construction accidents in New York City since the beginning of the year. This is almost as many as  during all of 2014 a year during which 8 fatal construction accidents were recorded.  A 22 year old construction worker died on April 6th at a construction site where the restaurant Pastis used to be in the meatpacking district. The young worker was digging below the foundation of the building when dirt fell on him and buried him up to his neck. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and pronounced dead upon his arrival. A day later 4  construction workers suffered serious personal injury during an accident at a demolition site located at 331 Madison Avenue near 43rd street. A chandelier and a heavy marble banister collapsed on the workers after they fell from a height of about two stories while doing interior demolition. The week before a construction worker fell to his death in Brighton Beach. Two people—not workers—died after a suspicious explosion this week in an apartment building where plumbers were working on gas lines. In March a pedestrian died after being hit by a  piece of plywood that detached from a construction site security fence . In February a construction worker installing grass on the Barclay Center in Brooklyn was crushed to death by falling beams and in January another worker fell to his death down an elevator shaft on the Upper West Side.

According to Crain’s New York, 19 people died in construction accidents in 2008 during the last real estate boom in New York City. When comparing the number of construction-related accidents and deaths in 2014 with 2008, the figures show that construction sites aren’t necessarily getting any safer. Though there has been a dramatic drop in deaths, from 19 in 2008 to eight in 2014, the number of accidents has spiked  to 231 from 151 over the same time period, a jump of more than 50%. Last year, the city issued about 142,000 building permits, up 20% from 2008. Combined with the deaths-to-date this year, the potential for increasing construction activity “puts this year on track to be another fatal one,” Crain’s reported.
Picture: courtesy of Wikipedia

Published on:

protect construction workers from exposure to Crystalline SilicaConstruction workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica have a high risk of developing silicosis, a debilitating and sometimes fatal lung disease. Lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as well as renal disease are also common among workers who are exposed to silica dust.

0.05 mg/m3 is NIOSH’s respirable crystalline silica Recommended Exposure Limit (REL) but many worker’s exposure exceed this limit.

Construction workers involved in asphalt pavement mining are among the workers  who are the most at risk of being overexposed to respirable Crystalline Silica.