OSHA Says Fall Hazards Topped Big Apple Violation List

An OSHA construction safety task force that descended upon 46 New York City construction sites during two weeks this past summer found that fall hazards topped the list of cited violations.

A dozen OSHA inspectors conducted 96 safety inspections and issued citations to 60 contractors for 129 health and safety violations including fall hazards (39), electrical safety (29), scaffolds (17), cranes and rigging (13) and welding/gas (10). Other citations were issued for violations involving PPE, tools, material handling, concrete, hoists, stairs and ladders.

The sites were randomly selected to encompass a cross-section of high-risk construction activities, including tower crane operation, high-rise construction, poured-in-place concrete operations, steel erection, and gutting and total rehabilitation of buildings (called gut-rehab for short).

“These violations are consistent with the types of hazards we find on far too many jobsites and cannot be written off as the inevitable by-products of an inherently dangerous profession,” says Richard Mendelson, OSHA’s area director in Manhattan.

OSHA followed up with an early-August construction stakeholder safety meeting with industry representatives, in which trends in construction safety violations were analyzed. OSHA recommended that all parties involved in New York City construction work to “raise the bar on safety.”

A second round of concentrated construction inspections will be conducted in the future, OSHA promises.