This week, the city of New York reported that injuries during the construction of buildings dropped more than 26 percent between January and October 2019 compared to the same period in 2018. What makes this achievement all the more impressive is that it has occurred during a time when NYC’s construction boom is not showing any signs of slowing down.
“The backbone of New York City’s construction industry are hard-working people in the building trades hoping to earn a good day’s pay and make it home safely,” Mayor Bill de Blasio stated. “Taking care of those workers’ safety is our top priority, so it’s great to see that while scaffolding continues to go up across all five boroughs, construction injuries continue to decline. And thanks to continued proactive inspections and new training requirements, I’m hopeful construction-related injuries will become as rare as a vacant lot in Midtown.”
Brian Sampson, the president of the Empire Chapter of the Associated Builders & Contractors, also noted that the decrease also shows how the partnership between the Department of Buildings and general contractors and subcontractors can work together to build smarter while remaining committed to safety. “Clearly NYC is a complicated construction market,” he said. “But when committed to solving a problem, we can achieve our shared goal to reduce workplace injustices.”
