New York Injury Attorneys Blog

New York construction accident lawyer, Michael Joseph won a major victory last week in a hotly contested trial in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan. Our client was injured when he climbed a scaffold and stepped on a plank and the plank cracked causing our client to fall. Our New York construction accident lawyers established that the building owner breached his duties under Labor Law 240 by permitting 2x4 planks to be used instead of OSHA rated planking.

Following a week long jury trial, the jury awarded over nine hundred thousand dollars and since we won the liability case over a year ago, our client is entitled to a year of interest at nine percent, which puts the total verdict over one million dollars. The defense in this case made a low ball offer of one hundred and seventy five thousand dollars and refused to make any higher offer. Our New York personal injury lawyers obtained a verdict of over 800 percent higher than the insurance company's offer.

New York's courts in a few recent decisions have eroded the protection that Labor Law 240 provides to New York construction workers and now will leave injured construction workers without a remedy for their personal injuries. Our New York construction accident lawyers are committed to expanding and protecting the laws which protect New York's construction workers who sustain personal injuries on job site accidents.

Traditionally, New York's Labor Law 240 required protection from falling objects and a construction worker who was injured because of a falling object could sue the site owner or a general contractor for their injuries. Now the Court of Appeals held that where the object of the work is to cause an object to fall, there is no Labor Law 240 violation, not withstanding that Labor Law 240 requires that proper protection be provided. This tends to occur during demolition, however, where the construction or demolition causes something to fall which was not the object of the work, there is still Labor Law 240 protection. For example, where one wall is being demolished, but it hits another wall or pole the demolition of which was not the object of the work and that wall or pole falls, there would be a Labor Law 240 violation.

However, New York's construction injury attorneys should continue to look to Labor Law 241 and the New York Industrial Code for rule violations which can be used to protect New York's construction workers. At this point, it is uncertain as to whether the Courts will continue to expand this exception to other types of construction accidents.

In a recent decision, the New York Supreme Court's Appellate division signaled an intention to expand the protection to New York construction workers who sustain personal injuries on a construction site because of falls from unprotected heights.

In this recent case, a demolition worker sustained personal injuries while climbing over an eight-foot- high, partially demolished wall and a pile of demolition debris which was blocking the doorway to go to a different work area. While climbing the wall, the demolition worker tripped and fell over the eight-foot wall and sustained serious personal injuries.

While many construction accident attorneys analyze Labor Law 240, only as to whether a ladder, plank or scaffold, our New York construction accident lawyers also focus on the lack or failure of a contractor or construction site owner to provide a ladder or scaffold or other device to safely work at a height or prevent a fall from occurring. As New York's Supreme Court's Appellate Department recently held, the critical issue in a Labor Law 240 case is whether plaintiff's injuries were the direct consequence of a failure to provide adequate protection against a risk arising from a physically significant elevation differential.

Therefore when construction workers in New York are not given adequate tools and have to improvise to do their work, and they get hurt on a construction job site, our New York construction accident attorneys will continue to protect New York's construction workers who get injured for no good reason.

The New York ctiy trial lawyer, Michael Joseph won a major jury verdict in a construction negligence trial. Our New York construction lawyers won a jury trial in the Bronx Supreme Court against Monadnock Construction company.

Our New York construction attorneys represented a commercial property owner sustained a water infiltration problem after the Defendant construction company performed underpinning on his property.

Our New York attorneys convinced a Bronx jury that the construction company negligently performed underpinning and failed to follow accepted industry standards by leaving holes in the foundation which were not parged, by failing to waterproof the exterior of the foundation wall and by failing to put a membrane over the outside of the foundation wall.

The experience our construction lawyers brought to this trial helped the Bronx jury understand the complicated construction evidence.

One of the most powerful tools for New York construction accident lawyers is Labor Law 241. Labor Law 241 requires contractors and owners of a construction site to provide reasonably safe protection to construction workers in New York. Contruction is inherently dangerous and it is important that construction sites have good lighting.

Inadequate lighting on construction sites compounds the inherent dangers on a construction site. Workers often trip or slip and fall on materials that are hard to see or in poorly lit areas. For examples, when construction workers work with saws and have difficulty seeing, itthe dangers are increased. Fortunately New York personal injury lawyers who handle construction accidents and personal injury cases can sue based on violations of Labor Law 241.

Labor Law § 241(6) and by extension, 12 NYCRR 23-1.30 requires that New York construction sites have illumination sufficient for safe working conditions wherever persons are required to work or pass in construction, demolition and excavation operations, but in no case shall such illumination be less than 10 foot candles in any area where persons are required to work.

As a New York construction accident lawyer, I have handled numerous cases involving personal injuries with saws. Saws are by their very nature dangerous and when accidents happen serious personal injuries are too often the result.

Often on construction sites, the gaurds on circular saws are removed so that the workers can work faster. Other times, the gaurd does not retract properly after a cut is made and the teeth come in contact with the operator. There are numberous causes of safetys on saws that do not retract. They include worn out or broken springs or build up of saw dust or other material in the saw which prevents the guard from retracting. At the end of every day, the saw should be cleaned by blowing air from an air gun through the saw to prevent the build up of dust.

New York construction lawyers have a powerful weapon to protect injured construction workers. Labor Law 241 requires that reasonable protection be provided to New York construction workers. 12 NYCRR § 23-1.12 (c)(2) states that every portable, power-driven, hand-operated saw which is not provided with a saw table shall be equipped with a guard which covers the saw blade to such an extent as will prevent contact with the teeth. Thus if a New York construction worker was cut by the teeth of a saw because the guard failed to protect him, Labor Law 241 was most likely violated.

Likewise, marine construction workers such as dockbuilders are especially at risk for saw accidents because they often work on platforms direclty on the water. The New York regulations require safe and non-slippery footing and coating for work surfaces. When martine construction workers use saws on a slippery surface, the dangers are compounded.

Our New York construction accident attorneys have handled hundreds of construction accidents involving personal injury. A high percentage of construction accidents involve workers falling from a ladder, or from a bridge or scaffold. These injuries can be avoided by lifelines, which are often not provided or are not made available to subcontractor employees.

When a construction accident happens, the construction companies try to cover up their wrongdoing and often come up with stories to try and beat a case. Victims of construction accident personal injuries need an experienced New York construction accident attorney to protect them.

One of the newest defenses is that the general contractors claim that there was a standing order and that all the equipment was on site. However, the New York Court of Appeals has recently made clear that this does not justify failing to provide the construction workers with the necessary equipment.

The New York Court of Appeals ruled that construction companies and general contractors cannot beat a Labor Law case, based on these claims where there is no evidence that injured worker knew where to find the safety devices notwithstanding the claims that the safety equipment was readily available on the site or that the injured worker was expected to use them. Even where a general contractor claims that appropriate safety devices were available at the project site on the date of the accident, the construction companies cannot win on these claims, where they cannot prove that the injured worker had been told to use such safety devices. Our New York construction accident attorneys fight these construction companies and we do not let them cheat injured workers out of what they are entitled to.

Our New York marine construction accident lawyers are thoroughly familiar with marine construction accidents. Accidents involving construction which happen on navigable waters often involve the interplay of New York's labor law and the Federal Martime laws.

The Longshore Harbor Workers Compensation Act provides compensation to workers injured on navigable waters of the United States in the course of their employment. These benefits are usually higher than New York state workers compensation benefits.

Often marine construction in New York is performed with the worker working from the water on a float stage or work barge. In a 2010 decision, the Court held that New York's labor laws are preempted by the Federal Maritime Law.

The practical result is that if a worker is standing on a barge or vessel at the time of the accident, he can only sue if he can establish negligence of the vessel, but he cannot sue under New York's Labor Law. So the seminal question becomes whether the platform was a vessel.

A vessel includes every description of water-craft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water. However, floating structures that are "not practically capable of being used as a means of transportation" do not qualify as vessels.

Analyzing whether a platform is a vessel requires expert analysis from a New York maritime construction lawyer.

Construction in New York has always been a perilous industry with countless victims of serious personal injury and wrongful death. Even the Labor Laws which protect New York construction workers have not completely eliminated the dangerous practices and short cuts that cause injury and death. New York construction accident attorneys see many preventable accidents that should not happen.

The New York assembly has introduced a bill (Bill No.: A03094), which requires criminal prosecution where shoddy construction work results in serious physical injury or the wrongful death of a person. In addition to hopefully providing New Yorkers with better safety in construction practices and work, this new law may give New York construction accident lawyers the ability to sue for punitive damages where a construction worker suffers a serious personal injury in a construction accident. This law will probably also apply to property owners who are injured because of shoddy work.

As a New York construction accident lawyer, I have handled numerous construction accident cases. New York Construction workers who suffer serious personal injuries in construction accidents involving scaffolds need aggressive and competent lawyers.

According to the Bureau of Labor there were 88 fatalities (wrongful deaths) in the 2007 from scaffold related accidents. Most of these construction accidents were preventable and violated OSHA. New York's Labor Laws are a powerful source of protection for construction workers. Also OSHA standards provide numerous regulations that protect New York construction workers. Unfortunately many contractors in New York, ignore both OSHA's regulations and the New York Labor Laws.

OSHA requires that all scaffolds and their supports be capable of supporting the load they are designed to carry with atleast a safety factor of 4. Wood used in scaffolds must be sound, straight-grained, free from cross grain, shakes and large, loose or dead knots. Metal scaffold members shall be maintained in good repair and free of corrosion. All vertical and horizontal members of scaffolds must be fastened together with a coupler or locking device which will form a positive connection. The failure of contractors to comply with these regulation and the failure of construction suppliers to provide adequate materials, causes numerous pump jack and polescaffold collapses.

Although Labor Law 240 often protects construction workers, OSHA standards can be used as a source of proof to show that a Labor Law violation occurred.

Michael Joseph, a New York construction accident lawyer has offices in New York City (Manhattan) and Westchester (White Plains). Every day, serious personal injuries and wrongful death happens on construction sites all over the New York metropolitan area including Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Rockland, Westchester, White Plains, Rye, Port Chester, Ossining, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mamaroneck, Dobbs Ferry, Mount Kisco, Bedford, Bronxville, Hastings, Ardsley, Larchmont, Scarsdale, Braircliff, Mount Kisco, Elmsford, Greenburgh, Hartsdale, Mount Vernon and Long Island. Our New York construction accident lawyers stand ready to represent construction workers who have sustained serious personal injuries.

Workers Compensation Law § 11 states in pertinent part that the liability of an employer
shall be exclusive and in place of any other liability whatsoever, to such employee on account of such injury or liability arising therefrom, except that if an employer fails to secure the payment of compensation for his injured employees, an injured employee, may, at his option, elect to claim compensation under this chapter, or to maintain an action in the courts for damages on account of such injury.

WCL § 110 (1) states in pertinent part that an employer shall record any injury incurred by one of its employees in the course of employment using the form prescribed for reporting injuries, a copy of which shall be provided to the injured employee. WCL § 110 (2) states in pertinent part that an employer shall file with the chair of the workers' compensation board and with the carrier if the employer is insured, a report of any accident resulting in personal injury which has caused or will cause a loss of time from regular duties of one day beyond the working day or which has required or will require medical treatment beyond ordinary first aid. WCL 110 (4) states that an employer who refuses or neglects to make a report or to keep records as required by this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. W.C.L. § 52 states in pertinent part that the failure to secure the payment of compensation for five or less employees within a twelve month period shall constitute a misdemeanor and the failure to secure the payment of compensation for more than five employees within a twelve month period shall constitute a class E felony. The Courts have recognized that one of the purposes of the law is to assist in assuring payment of any and every award to an injured employee. These construction companies who do not carry workers compensation insurance or refuse to provide the insurance information to the injured employee have engaged in criminal activity by having workers perform construction, an inherently dangerous occupation, in New York without having New York Workers Compensation coverage Additionally, it would subvert the public policies of the workers compensation laws to permit the defendant to assert a defense based upon workers compensation, which he failed to provide.
Where an injured worker has had to bear the hardships of an uninsured work accident with serious injuries it is fundamentally unfair and prejudicial to allow the defendant to assert the defense of an exclusive remedy.

New York construction accident lawyers often see injuries on construction sites involving personal injuries caused by unsafe work practices during demolition. Unfortunately for the injured New York worker, not all demolition work is covered by New York labor laws.

For purposes of Labor Law 241, demolition is defined by 12 NYCRR § 23-1.4(b)(16) as the work incidental to or associated with the total or partial dismantling or razing of a building or other structure including the removing or dismantling of machinery or other equipment. Therefore to be covered by New York's Labor Law, the injured demolition worker must have been engaged in demolishing a structure. In a recent decision, the New York Courts held that dismantling a vehicle, whether a boat, a car or otherwise, unrelated to any other project, is not the sort of demolition intended to be covered by the New York Labor Law.

New York construction workers engaged in demolition often suffer serious personal injuries and even wrongful death when they are hit by falling debris. Our New York construction accident lawyers have often used the New York Labor Law 241 to successfully represent injured construction workers. New York lawyers who represent injured demolition workers must be familiar with the New York Industrial Code provisions concerning demolition. Industrial Code 12 NYCRR §§ 23-3.3(b)(3) states that parts of buildings shall not be left unguarded in such condition that such parts may fall, collapse or be weakened by wind pressure or vibration. 12 NYCRR 23-3.3(c) provides that during hand demolition operations, continuing inspections shall be made by designated persons to detect any hazards resulting from weakened or deteriorated floors or walls or from loosened material, and mandates protection for the New York demolition worker against these hazards by shoring, bracing or other effective means.

Section 23-1.7 (a) (1) of the Industrial Code also requires that every place where persons are required to work or pass that is normally exposed to falling material or objects shall be provided with suitable overhead protection.

New York construction accident lawyers, must therefore be aware of these demolition related regulations.

The New York Labor Law requires that construction site owners and general contractors provide devices to protect construction workers from a fall while performing construction at a height. The Labor Law is often called the Ladder Law or the Scaffold Law. Our New York construction accident lawyers have won numerous cases on behalf of injured construction workers who had construction accidents because there were no safety lines, safety belts, harnesses or yo-yos in order to tie off lifelines, stanchions ior safety cables in the accident area.

New York construction accident lawyers who represent injured construction workers, under the ladder law have been recently been facing claims that the injured worker's actions were the only cause of the construction accident. New York injury lawyers who handle construction accident cases call this the "blame the victim defense".

Recently the New York Courts have held that liability under Labor Law 240 (the New York ladder law) does not attach when the safety devices that plaintiff alleges were absent were readily available at the work site, albeit not in the immediate vicinity of the accident, and plaintiff knew he was expected to use them but for no good reason chose not to do so, causing an accident. In such cases, the New York Courts have held that the plaintiff's own negligence is the sole proximate cause of his injury. Recently the New York Court of Appeals gave New York construction lawyers a new weapon in the fight for the injured construction worker. The Court of Appeals tightened the standards for this defense by holding that a foreman's testimony that safety devices were available for use at the project site, and that the injured construction worker violated a standing order to use certain equipment. The Court found the affidavit was insufficient to defeat an injured construction workers case were the foreman did not prove that the injured construction worker had actually been told had been told to use such safety devices. While the foreman referred to a "standing order" issued to the project foremen, directing workers to "have a harness on and be tied off," he could not say whether the order had been conveyed to the construction workers. Thus, New York construction lawyers must hold these defendants to these heightened standards to protect our injured construction worker clients.

Construction Accident lawyers in New York City must be familiar with the unique challenges that face accident victims who sustain personal injury and even wrongful death because of a structural collapse. These catastrophic failures often cause serious personal injuries to construction workers because of the fault of contractors who cut corners.

Collapses are often seen during demolition, excavation and new construction. In New York, Labor Law 241(6) is often invoked to protect the injured construction worker. New York construction accident lawyers must be careful not to only rely upon Labor Law 240, since many cases have held that where the collapse is due to a vertical or lateral causes (shoring/bracing) as opposed to horizontal (falling) issue, there is no Labor Law 240 violation. Although Labor Law 240 usually applies where the ladder, scaffold, plank or other device which is supporting the construction worker collapses.

Collapse of structure due to unsupported foundation often involve violations of NYCRR 23-4.1 [a] which requires that whenever any excavation is to be performed in the vicinity of buildings, structures or utilities, the integrity, stability and structural adequacy of such buildings, structures or utilities shall be maintained at all times by the use of underpinning, sheet piling, bracing or other equivalent means to prevent damage to or failure of foundations, walls, supports or utility facilities and to prevent injury to any person. The regulation also requires that the underpinning, sheet piling and bracing be inspected at least once each day or more often if conditions warrant by an experienced, designated person.

This regulation is aimed at protecting against collapses associated with a loss of stability created by the excavation and is sufficient to establish a Labor Law 241(6) violation.

Additionally with new construction, Labor Law 200 will often provide a remedy, where structural supports are not properly supported or secured, thereby causing a collapse of a wall or ceiling. .

As a New York construction accident attorney who has represented numerous New York marine construction workers, including dock builders who sustain injuries, I am thoroughly familiar with the Labor Laws that protect New York construction workers. In recent years, the New York waterfront has undergone extensive marine construction with renovation projects along the westside and east sides of Manhattan. There has also been extensive waterfront construction along Brooklyn and the Bronx water front. New York construction accident attorneys must be familiar with industry standards which are relevant to the marine construction industry to pursue Labor Law 200 construction accidnet cases. Although OSHA regulations dont support Labor Law 241 cases, they can establish Labor Law 200 cases under dangerous condition or work practice issues. Below is a brief summary of the appliable OSHA regulations concerning marine construction workers who work on work planks, float stages:

29 CFR 1910.28(u)(1) "Float or ship scaffolds." Float or ship scaffolds shall support not more than three men and a few light tools, such as those needed for riveting, bolting, and welding.

29 CFR 1910.28 (u)(2) The platform shall be not less than 3 feet wide and 6 feet long, made of three-quarter-inch plywood, equivalent to American Plywood Association Grade B-B, Group I, Exterior.

29 CFR 1910.28 (u)(3) Under the platform, there shall be two supporting bearers made from 2- x 4-inch, or 1- x 10-inch rough, selected lumber, or better. They shall be free
of knots or other flaws and project 6 inches beyond the platform on both sides. The ends of the platform shall extend about 6 inches beyond the outer edges of the bearers. Each bearer shall be securely fastened to the platform.

29 CFR 1910.28(u)(4) An edging of wood not less than 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches, or equivalent, shall be placed around all sides of the platform to prevent tools from rolling off.

29 CFR 1910.28(u)(5) Supporting ropes shall be 1-inch diameter manila rope or equivalent, free from deterioration, chemical damage, flaws, or other imperfections. Rope connections shall be such that the platform cannot shift or slip. If two ropes are used with each float, each of the two supporting ropes shall be hitched around one end of a bearer and pass under the platforms to the other end of the bearer where it is hitched again, leaving sufficient rope at each end for the supporting ties.

29 CFR 1910.28 (u)(6) Each workman shall be protected by a safety lifebelt attached to a lifeline. The lifeline shall be securely attached to substantial members of the structure (not scaffold), or to securely rigged lines, which will safely suspend the workman in case of a fall.