On April 29 of this year, the New York City building inspectors released their report of safety violations committed in 2012 by construction companies and contractors at worksites across the city. The two-month inspection, which covered 920 construction sites, found that eight fatalities had occurred over the year, an increase from just five in 2011. Seven of these deaths occurred at low-rise construction sites where finished buildings were to be nine stories or less. In addition, construction accidents increased by 37 percent in the 12-month period, of which 43 percent were related to falls.
Increasing the safety level for Workers and Resident New Yorkers
The 879 safety violations uncovered resulted in almost $1 million in fines. While violations pertained to a variety of conditions, the most common were due to missing fences, guardrails, handrails, or fire extinguishers, a lack of proper permits, failure to provide protection to adjoining buildings, unprotected openings, and improper lightweight steel construction. Work was ordered to come to a halt at 34 locations due to such unsafe conditions and a further 75 partial stop-work orders were issued where violations were found to pose an impending threat. Continue reading
