Regulatory Reform Needed to Make New York City Demolition Construction Sites Safer
(courtesy of DNA Info/Patrick Hedlund) The Grand Street apartment buildings that were gutted by fire.
The Department of Buildings recently approved the demolition of two buildings in Chinatown, that were were gutted following a recent seven alarm fire on Grand Street. This is a cause for concern since New York City’s regulatory agencies have a poor track record when it comes to ensuring that its demolition sites are safe.
Just look at what happened after the tragic 2007 fire at the former Deutsche Bank tower in which two firemen were killed. Following that fire, the Deutsche Bank building was gutted and had to be demolished. Although New York law requires that a contractor obtain a permit from the Department of Buildings before it begins a demolition project, when the Occupational Safety and Health Adminstration (OSHA) inspected the Deutche Bank demolition site, it turned up several major safety violations at the demolition site.
In fact, according to an article in the Downtown Express, the problems on the Deutsche Bank demolition site were just the tip of the iceberg. According to the article, a few years ago, OSHA did 45 site inspections of demolition work in the city. At 38 of those sites, inspectors issued a total of 175 violations. That’s almost 4 violations per inspected demolition site, almost 25 percent higher than OSHA’s average of just over 3 violations per general construction site!
What's worse, I called OSHA and discovered there were even more problems at New York City demolition sites in 2009! Last year, OSHA did 54 site inspections of demolition work in the city and there were problems at 45 of the sites, for a total of 225 violations, averaging 4.2 violations per inspected construction site. This is simply unacceptable!
Following the major safety problems connected to the Deutsche Bank tower fire, Mayor Bloomberg assigned a working group to investigate how the FDNY and the DOB - agencies which regulate demolitions in New York - were handling demolition, construction and abatement safety. The reason for creating the working group was because a “more comprehensive approach was needed.”
I called the DOB and asked them how many of the working group’s 10 recommendations regarding demolition safety have been implemented by the DOB. They said they would look into it, but no comment was received prior to this post.
The point is NY construction accident lawyers like me can only help so far as obtaining damage awards for construction accidents injured people wish would have never happened in the first place. The focus of the DOB has to be on accident prevention, and not simply handing out fines which many companies see, sadly, as just one of the the costs of doing business.
I commend Mayor Bloomberg’s office for creating a working group to make recommendations regarding safety at demolition sites in New York. But making good recommendations can only go so far- the Department of Buildings has to implement them to make construction sites safer. Based on how OSHA keeps finding serious problems at New York emolition sites, they don't appear to be doing that.
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