NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) Commissioner Melanie E. La Rocca announced on Tuesday, June 1, that teams of DOB enforcement inspectors will be deployed across the five boroughs to perform safety sweeps on “the city’s larger and more complex construction sites,” to ensure they are safe for both workers and the public.

DOB officials said that when performing these “zero tolerance” sweeps, DOB inspectors will issue enforcement actions if they observe any safety violations, and will shut down sites if they find serious safety lapses. “Our inspectors and community engagement teams will also be distributing “Worker Alert” safety information at construction sites on the dangers of worker falls,” a DOB statement read.

“In the last two weeks, three construction workers in New York City lost their lives in separate work-related incidents. Two of these fatal incidents were the result of worker falls. These three incidents are still under investigation by the department and our partners in law enforcement.”

The statement continued, “Upon arrival, officers encountered two unconscious and unresponsive adult males inside of an elevator. EMS responded to the scene and pronounced one male deceased. The second male, a 29-year-old, was transported to NYC Health & Hospitals/Lincoln in critical condition. The preliminary investigation revealed that the two males, construction workers, were loading material into a freight elevator on the 5th floor when it fell. The Department of Buildings and Office of Emergency Management were notified, and the investigation is ongoing.”

DOB provided a statement to Norwood News following the incident, saying, “Every worker who leaves for the job site in the morning deserves to come home safely at night. We are committed to finding out how this tragic incident occurred, and if we find that safety rules were ignored, we will hold those responsible to account.” A representative added, “Along with our partners in law enforcement, investigators from our Construction Safety and Elevator Enforcement units will be conducting a thorough investigation of the events that led up to this incident.”

In the meantime, regarding the DOB safety sweep, La Rocca said the recent spate of construction worker deaths in the city was tragic, senseless – and even worse, entirely avoidable. “Department inspectors have been directed to sweep work sites around the city, and unsafe conditions will be met with zero tolerance,” she said. “The death of even one construction worker is wholly unacceptable.”

During the sweep, DOB inspectors will be conducting site visits at thousands of construction work sites in neighborhoods across the city. Contractors who are found to be putting their workers at risk by flouting safety regulations could face penalties of up to $25,000 for each construction safety violation. At each work site, DOB officials said inspectors will specifically be:

• ensuring that permitted construction projects are in full compliance with their required site safety plans;
• confirming that contractors and safety professionals are closely adhering to New York City’s construction safety regulations, described as robust;
• checking that workers on site are properly using safety harnesses and fall arrest systems where required;
• distributing “Worker Alert” safety information on how to prevent worker falls and sending direct mailers to all permit holders performing roof work.

Last month, DOB announced that five new construction safety bills supported by DOB were introduced for consideration in the New York City Council. The bills are currently with the Committee on Housing and Buildings. The committee chair is Councilman Robert E. Cornegy who represents parts of Brooklyn in District 36.

If adopted, DOB officials said “these consequential bills” would greatly enhance oversight and accountability on construction sites in the city by licensing general contractors who perform construction work, requiring more site safety supervision at larger work sites, strengthening requirements for cold-formed steel construction, and permanently banning the dangerous use of stand-off brackets for suspended scaffold work.

According to Hubbell Power Systems Inc., standoff brackets, sometimes called attachment or extension arms, “are used to support conductors, equipment like cut-outs and arresters, or communication lines on poles.”

DOB officials said the construction safety legislation package builds upon the work already carried out by DOB to increase safety on the city’s construction sites in recent years, including increasing penalties for the most serious safety violations, adding hundreds of additional inspectors to the agency’s ranks, fully implementing a “first-of-its-kind” safety training program for the city’s construction workforce, and increasing the frequency of unannounced construction safety inspections of large work sites across the city.

Agency officials said the construction safety efforts spearheaded by DOB led to a 34 percent decrease in injuries on building construction sites in New York City from 2018 to 2020.

For more information on construction safety, interested parties can visit DOB’s website at www1.nyc.gov/nycsafety.