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.
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one57%20crane-thumb.jpgDuring Hurricane Sandy, a tower crane at One57 construction site snapped backward during the 80-mile-per-hour winds and the 150-foot boom stayed tied to the mast, dangling dangerously nearly 1,000 feet high in the air over midtown Manhattan. The team of inspectors and engineers that responded to this crane accident and helped secure the collapsed boom recently received the Advancing Public Safety Award at the 2013 Commissioner’s Awards for Excellence, the New York City Department of Buildings annual ceremony held at Cooper Union in Manhattan.

After the collapse, Assistant New York City Department of Buildings Commissioner Michael Alacha, P.E., and Acting Assistant Commissioner Timothy Lynch, P.E., climbed to the top of 74-story unenclosed building to inspect the boom. In the following days multiple inspections of the crane, the hoist and the surrounding buildings were conducted and the two men as well as Executive Director of Cranes and Derricks Division Faisal Muhammed, P.E., Chief Inspector Frank Damiani and other engineers worked with the contractor and developer to devise a plan to secure the equipment. The entire operation lasted 5 days including 36 hours to slowly turn the crane mast sideways so the boom could then be secured.

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heAD%20INJURY%20MOTORCYCLE%20CRASH.pngMotorcyclists who don’t wear a helmet have a much higher risk to suffer concussion or other serious skull or brain injury in a crash. A crash-test dummy shows that crashing without a helmet exposes the head to accelerations and forces up to 9.5 times stronger than with a helmet according to a recent study from the University of New South Wales and published in the Journal Traffic Injury Prevention

The test replicated the oblique impact on the head and on the neck after falling from a bike at different speeds and heights and compared the results of the impact on a helmeted and an unhelmeted head.

The results showed that a good helmet with tightly adjusted restraints can protect motorcyclists head from serious injuries even during the most severe impacts.

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As we previously posted on our blog, our managing partner , New York Personal Injury Lawyer Ben Rubinowitz, will be the co-director of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy’s National Session this summer at the NITA Education Center in Boulder, CO from July 24th to August 1st, 2013.

In this video, participants and faculty members including Ben Rubinowitz, explain why lawyers should attend this prestigious training program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE_g_PRCXa4

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digger%20derrick.jpgOSHA recently issued a final rule to expand the exemption for digger derricks in its construction standard for cranes and derricks used in the electric-utility industry to telecommunications work. Digger derricks drill holes for utility poles. They are used by telecommunication companies to place poles inside holes and attach transformers and other items to the poles. The rule is effective June 28, 2013.

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18% of Designated Drivers (DDs) are driving while impaired exposing themselves and their drunken passengers to a higher risk of a car accident reveals a recent study conducted during week-ends in in a southeastern college community restaurant and bar district.

65% of DDs tested abstained from drinking alcohol completely, 17% had a Blood Alcohol Content between 0.02 and 0.049 and 18% had a BAC above 0.05. according to the study conducted by the Department of Health Education and Behavior, University of Florida and published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

The study also screened participants for Alcohol Use Disorders and results showed that participants with Alcohol Use Disorders were more likely to serve as DD and have a blood alcohol concentration that significantly impaired driving ability and psychomotor function.

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Endoscope.png30 % of duodenoscopes, 24% of gastroscopes and 3% of colonoscopes have unacceptable level of “bio dirt” from previous clients bodies leading to a potential risk of infection according to a new study by researchers at 3M infection Prevention Division and presented at the 40th Annual Conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

After being used flexible endoscopes are manually cleaned by a hospital technician who will visually inspect them and then soak them in high level disinfectant. However the study indicates that visual inspection is not enough as contamination is often invisible to the naked eye. The study suggests hospitals should improve their cleaning protocol by having specific guidelines by type of instrument and by identifying if there are any critical steps missing in the manual cleaning process.

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In a previous blog we mentioned that OSHA decided to apply cranes and derricks safety standard requirements to demolition and underground construction sites. The deadline for crane operators to get their certification was November 14th 2014 but OSHA just announced that it has was planning to extend it to November 10 2017 so that the certification requirements do not take effect during potential rulemaking or cause disruption to the construction industry.

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When OSHA inspectors visited RWS, a plant that makes wood shavings for animal bedding, they found explosive combustible shavings all over the equipment and the floor with accumulation reaching as high as one foot in some areas. Adding to that employees were authorized to smoke in locations where excessive wood dust and wood shavings created a high risk of fire.

RWS Manufacturing plant in Queensbury, NY,deliberately, seriously and repeatedly violated worker safety and health standards and is now facing $233,870 in fines by OSHA.

Since its opening in Quennsburry, NY, 5 years ago, RWS Manufacturing plant has been the objects of multiple complaints by neighbors. It also has a long history of issues with the town’s enforcement codes related to noise, smoke and lack of groundwater control.

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In an Upstate New York truck accident that happened several days ago, a trailer disconnected from the rig that was pulling it and crashed into a minivan killing 7. Investigation will determine if the cause of the accident was mechanical failure or driver action.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, mechanical failures are the cause of only 1% of fatal accidents involving large trucks and among mechanical failures, the truck’s couplings, hitches or chains are the cause of 1 in a thousand fatal accidents.

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