Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Two Incidents, Same Site!

Two Incidents - Same Site - Who Cares?
In the two posts below, one by Rad Berky and the other by Ann Sheridan of WCNC channel 36, each one relates to a VERY DANGEROUS site safety incidents that happened at one site, yet the Safety Director does not indicate that OSHA has been notified! I know that Safety Directors don't want to have an incident that REQUIRES OSHA's participation, but in many cases OSHA can and will assist contractors in preventive safety procedures.

The two articles below, while very similar, indicate that there has not been adequate training of riggers, and or, crane operators and lift supervisors to assure that proper supervision by a Competent Person and proper rigging procedures have been followed.

Also, it seems that the Public is not adequately protected while lift operations that can allow materials to fall onto public streets. This is a VERY SERIOUS situation and should have been taken into consideration prior to any lifts and/or the possibility of materials falling from the structure onto the streets below. This should have been in a JOB SAFETY ANALYSIS PLAN before any lifts were made.

Construction beam falls, hits school bus

07:52 PM EST on Monday, November 10, 2008
 By RAD BERKY / NewsChannel 36
E-mail Rad: RBerky@WCNC.com

Video


One beam bounced into the side of a school bus. The l bus was empty except for the driver, who was shaken up but not seriously hurt.

No one was injured as the beams fell 51 floors, breaking some of the newly installed windows in the Wachovia tower being built at the corner of South Tryon Street and Stonewall Street.

"I'm just thinking, 'Oh God, it's coming right at me," said Rick Dufrane who had just made a delivery in the area when the accident happened. "They started spinning around and bouncing and I jumped and when I did that I twisted my hip."

Images from AirStar 36

The 51-story building is being constructed by the Batson-Cook Co. of Atlanta. Project Manager Curt Rigney said the accident is under investigation.

"We will evaluate and see what was or wasn't followed and make any changes as need be," Rigney said.

He said there were strict procedures involved in securing any load lifted by the giant cranes.

This is the second incident at the site in a week. Last Tuesday a panel of glass fell to the street as it was being installed. No one was hurt but glass covered most of a city block.

Rigney said safety is the No. 1 priority on the job for the sake of the public and work crews.

Witness Rick Dufrane is just happy everyone was able to walk away.

"That was a close one. Very close," he said.




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Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Regs Overzealous

Too Much Regulating?

The AP article below written by Amy Westfeldt is a prime example that I have written in previous posts cautioning City, State and Local organizations not to OVER write regulations, particularly in relation to cranes.

I have cautioned that Basic Guidelines under current and the new proposed new Crane Standards that OSHA has out for comments and will be effective in about a year.

If every City, State and Local organizations continue to write uninforcable regulations it will become impossible for contractors to be able to complete high rise constructon projects, particularly in large cities like New York. Also, with so many possible sets of regulations, contractors will have to hire all sorts of legal personnel to assure that they meet regulations of every different location that the contractors work in.

This type of over regulation just does not make Horse Sense, it more resembles operating the Donkey way. Therefore, I urge these different organizations to go back, re-read the basic OSHA guidelines that have been in effect since 1971, compare them to the PROPOSED new OSHA Standards that are available on-line, which refer them to Manufacturers' guidelines and adopt these OSHA Standards to their inforcement teams.

PLEASE: USE SOME HORSE SENSE IN WRITING REGULATIONS FOR ERECTING CRANES AND STRUCTURES AND ENFORCE THEM WITH A HORSE SENSE APPROACH.

Construction industry: NYC regulations overzealous

By AMY WESTFELDT – 17 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — It takes a lot of paper to raise a crane in New York City these days.

On top of maintenance records and operator certification tests, engineers have to sign off before cranes are raised or dismantled. The city also requires documents that prove a safety meeting was held before work begins.

It may seem like a lot to ask for, but New York is seeking to become a national example after two deadly crane collapses in Manhattan killed nine people this year.

This year's spate of deadly accidents in New York and other U.S. cities, including Houston, Miami and Las Vegas, triggered the federal government in September to propose updated crane regulations for the first time in 40 years.

But New York has introduced more stringent rules governing constructions in addition to those required by the federal government, including laws that require training for tower crane workers, limit the use of slings that hold loads, and overhaul licensing requirements for mobile crane operators.

"We have worked closely with industry officials to develop checks and balances that are making construction sites safer than ever before," city Department of Buildings spokesman Kate Lindquist said. "There are thousands of construction sites in New York City that are managed without incident every day, and there is no reason why developers cannot build safely to avoid any preventable delays."

But the city's construction industry says the rules are difficult to follow, hard to enforce and often cause costly delays. Contractors say sites are often shut down for days or weeks for minor violations, like a missing piece of paperwork, and stopping work at a high-profile site can cost more $100,000 a day.

"In some respects, it's already overkill," said Louis Coletti, president of New York's Building Trades Employers Association. "You've got new rules and regulations coming out every day."

In midtown Manhattan, where a crane crashed into a town house on March 15 and killed seven people, a crane still hasn't returned to the high-rise development site. A crane at the site of a May 30 collapse that killed two workers was not re-erected until September.

Work stopped at both sites for months, and the latter site was ordered to stop again a week ago because of a missing permit.

Coletti said contractors have received orders from multiple inspectors with conflicting interpretations of building codes, and finding an inspector to lift an order can be as challenging as fixing the violation.

Contractors are most up in arms over a requirement for engineers or manufacturers to certify plans to raise tower cranes. They say professionals would be unlikely to approve plans for work they can't supervise.

Alfred G. Gerosa, executive director of the Cement League, whose members often contract out crane work, said in September that the rule could "shut down the entire tower crane industry in the city."

Frank Bardonaro, president of a suburban Philadelphia crane rental company and head of the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association's crane safety task force, called New York's rules "unenforceable."

"Are you going to test every bolt, nut, bracing?" he asked.

The city maintains the regulations are standard across the construction industry and are necessary to ensure safety.

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Tuesday, November 4, 2008

More Training Needed in Lift Operations

Training Lacking for Lift Operations

The article below from the Argus Leader, written by Steve Young is a prime example of the need for training in lift operations, especially for Trained and Certified Lift Supervision, Trained and Certified Riggers and Trained and Certified Crane Operators.

The statement that the operator was not at fault and that South Dakota does not require Crane Operators to be Certified. This Training and Certifications WILL be required upon the final issue of the new OSHA Crane Standards in a little over a year.

Site of crane accident inspected

Victim a father of four from Doon, Iowa

Steve Young • syoung@argusleader.com • October 22, 2008

A compliance officer with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was in Sioux Falls on Tuesday to investigate a crane accident that killed a 51-year-old welder from Doon, Iowa.

Henry Wayne VandenTop died Monday afternoon at Sanford USD Medical Center after a large boom on a crane struck him and knocked him 25 feet off the wall where he was working. The accident occurred at the site of an elementary school being built near 53rd Street and Tea-Ellis Road, police said.

Minnehaha County coroner Dr. Brad Randall performed the autopsy and said VandenTop "died of blunt chest trauma."

Bruce Beelman, OSHA's area director in Bismarck, N.D., said he had an officer in Sioux Falls investigating the incident. That officer did a thorough walk-around and inspection to ensure the work environment remains safe, Beelman said, and investigated the particulars of the accident as well.

VandenTop worked for Hoogendoorn Construction in Canton. Police said the welder was on top of a wall working while the crane boom operated above him. Some of the supports for the crane began to sink into the ground, and the back end of the crane came off the ground, bringing the boom down to crush VandenTop and knocking him off the wall.

Paul Maassen, a minority owner of Hoogendoorn, said the crane and its supports were resting on layered wooden pads, and some of the supports "sank with the wooden pads; everything went into the ground."

Maassen said he didn't know what caused the supports to sink.

"There's nothing I can really speculate on at this time," he said. "We need to stay with the inspectors. They'll eventually give us how they think it happened."

Maassen did say, however, that he didn't think operator error was the cause.

"We had our inspectors, our safety guys, out to check everything," he said. "They didn't see anything out of the ordinary."

South Dakota does not require crane operators to be certified, said Dawn Dovre, public information officer for the state Department of Labor. It is one of 35 states that do not require such certification.

Beelman said his office has up to six months to complete the investigation, though "I would not want to provide a specific time period or date" for it to be finished. The agency has standards that companies have to meet when operating cranes, including taking appropriate precautions to ensure cranes are not operated on unstable surfaces, Beelman said.

Maassen said he thought the OSHA inspector finished his on-site work Tuesday.

If OSHA determines any serious safety violations were involved, it could cite Hoogendoorn and levy a fine ranging from $375 to $7,000, Beelman said.

In extreme cases, where OSHA determines that a company willfully disregard safety standards, the fine can go as high as $70,000, Beelman added.

This summer, Hoogendoorn was assessed a $1,500 penalty for not having an adequate guardrail system at a construction site in Brookings, Beelman said. That fine was reduced to $750 when the contractor agreed to correct the problem immediately and improve its safety and health programs through training and better monitoring.

VandenTop was married and has four children. Family members declined to comment Tuesday. Maassen said VandenTop had worked for his company for 14 years and was a friend who liked to fish and loved his family.

"Our guys are all close," Maassen said. "They're all friends together. This is hard for all our guys. They know each other really well."

Arrangements are pending with Porter Funeral Home in Rock Valley, Iowa.

Reach reporter Steve Young at 331-2306.


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Monday, November 3, 2008

The Kids Get In On the Act

Kids Want Safe Work Sites, Too!

The article below in The Chief Engineer makes total Horse Sense in that the children of ASSE Members work hard each year producing Safety Poster Ideas for job sites all around the world. This is one of the best things I've seen that promotes Safe Work Practices for Parents, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles of children who want them to return home at the end of each work day without injuries or fatalities.

I urge anyone who is an ASSE member to urge their children to participate in this great program.

7th Annual Safety-on-the-Job Poster Contest

Through the annual American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) kids’ “Safety-on-the-Job” poster contest, children illustrate what job safety means to them, their families and friends. Each of last year’s five winning posters had a different tag line, but same theme - ‘Construction Cats Wear Hard Hats’ (from 6-year-old Victoria Benigno, Cherry Hill, NJ); ‘Think Safety - The One Person Who Can Prevent Accidents Is You’ (7-year-old Tiffany Jade Heishman, Strasburg, VA); ‘Fortune Strikes Where Safety Thrives’ (10-year-old Immanuel Adriana Rakshana, Kuwait); ‘Safety in Different Languages, But It’s All The Same Thing’ (11-year-old Robin Newman, Madison, AL); and, ‘1 Pair of Safety Glasses - $15, 1 Hard Hat $40, Work Boots $120, Daddy Coming Home - Priceless!’ (13-year-old Meghan Baker of Perth-Andover, New Brunswick).

ASSE is launching the 7th annual kids’ ‘Safety-on-the-Job’ poster contest open to ASSE members’ children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, with a Valentines Day, February 14, 2009, deadline. ASSE members can also sponsor local schools, co-workers’ children and more to enter. The contest is open to children 5-14 with top prizes to be awarded to those in each of the five age groups that best illustrate being safe on the job.

Children in five age groups -- ages 5-6; ages 7-8; ages 9-10; ages 11-12; and ages 13-14 are invited to create and submit posters no larger than 11x14 that best illustrate being safe at work. Winners will be announced the first week of March. Entry forms and contest rules can be found at www.asse.org/newsroom under the ASSE’s 7th Annual Kids’ “Safety-on-the-Job” poster contest link.



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Sunday, November 2, 2008

New Law at Highway Incidents

Safety Vests Now Required at Roadside Incidents

The article below from the Daily American, written by Tiffany Wright indicates that a good, Horse Sense rule will become effective on November 24th that will require ANYONE at the scene of a roadside incident MUST wear highly visible, reflective vests. I highly applaud this new rule for the safety of Construction Workers, Fire and Safety personnel and News Media's protection.

Law will require workers to wear safety vests
By TIFFANY WRIGHT
Daily American Staff Writer
Saturday, November 1, 2008 9:27 PM EDT

In a few weeks, people working along federal highways will have to gear up in reflective safety vests when responding to an incident on public roads.

The new federal regulation, required by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, will go into effect Nov. 24.

The regulation states, “All workers within the right-of-way of a federal-aid highway who are exposed either to traffic or construction equipment within the work area shall wear high-visibility safety apparel.”

This goes for construction workers, firefighters responding to an accident or media covering an incident.

Melissa Melewsky, the media law counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, said the association supports the regulation.

“We agree that this is necessary,” she said. “Ultimately this is for the safety of roadside workers. If media are on the roadside they have the same risks, so it’s only proper to have the same precautions.”

The regulation is important to workers’ safety, as 43,000 fatalities occur on highways each year, said Doug Hecox, a spokesman with the Federal Highway Administration.

“All of these people are working on roads but none are protected by safety gear,” he said. “Sometimes reporters think nothing can happen because they’re only going to be out there one minute, but sometimes that’s all it takes.”

Kris Wyant, Berlin Area Ambulance Association captian, said even though his emergency responders already wear reflective gear it is good others will have to as well.

“I think it’s a good idea because it’s added safety for people out there working on the highway,” he said.

The employees in Berlin will also have to purchase new vests to update their current ones that are no longer in compliance with the regulation.

“Most of our stuff is no longer in compliance with the new regulations,” he said.

Although not complying with the law is not a crime, those not willing to comply may face repercussions.

“As far as newspapers go I can see access becoming an issue if reporters didn’t wear the proper equipment,” Melewsky said.

Financial funding could also be affected.

“Theoretically the state could lose billions of dollars in federal aid,” Hecox said.

Most of the public roads in Pennsylvania are maintained using federal funding, so the state would have to abide by the rule in order to secure funding.

The International Safety Equipment Association maintains a list of manufacturers that produce reflective apparel that is compliant with federal regulations. Visit www.safetyequipment.org to find a manufacturer.

(Tiffany Wright may be contacted at tiffanyw@dailyamerican.com. Comment on the online story at dailyamerican.com.)

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Thursday, October 30, 2008

Listen to the Expert

Excellent Source For Trench Safety Info

The article below written by William C. Byrne of the Memphis Commercial Appeal sheds a good light on a source of Safety Information regarding trenching operations. It seems that the owner of Trench Safety and Equipment of Memphis, TN and North Litttle Rock, AR has knowledge that can be obtained from this company that will help make trenching much safer. As it pointed out in the below article, Trenching operations cause about 100 workers each year.

One fatality is Ten too many as the vast majority of these uncalled for deaths is the lack of proper planning, lack of a Competent Person and just plain "not placing brains in gear before placing trencher in motion." I hope readers will attain necessary information that is available either from this company or other sources to stop these useless fatalities.

Use the Horse Sense Approach to all Safety Related Situations.

Trench expert offers safety precautions

It's inevitable that a ditch will collapse, he says, so be prepared

By William C. Bayne (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Thursday, October 30, 2008

All ditches eventually will cave in, an expert on ditch and trench safety said Wednesday.

"The only question is the timing," said David Dow, vice president, secretary and treasurer of Trench Safety and Equipment, which has offices in Memphis and North Little Rock.

Dow's firm rents bracing and blocking equipment to shore-up the walls of ditches and trenches and also provides training for utility companies involved with trenching.

He did not go to the site of the deadly cave-in in Horn Lake's Holly Hills subdivision Tuesday night, but he said the cave-in there was similar to a number of incidents in the Mid-South over the years.

"Trenching is one of the deadliest components of construction work," he said. "At one time, there were as many as 400 deaths attributed to trenches annually.

"In 1990, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) published rules regarding trench safety," he said.

Among the requirements:

Having a competent person on hand at all times when people are working in the trench. The designated person would have authority to stop unsafe acts or to order workers out of the trench at any time.

Removing or blocking and bracing any surface encumbrance -- any item on the ground surface that might fall into the trench or lead to a cave-in.

Classifying the soil type. Some soil types are more likely to give way than others.

All trenches deeper than five feet must have safety equipment in place.

"The safety precautions could be sloping the trench away from the main opening to prevent a cave-in; using a shoring system to hold up the walls of the trench, or what is called a trench shield -- a safety box that would protect the workers even if the walls of the trench collapsed," he said.

Dow, 57, who has been working in the area of trench safety since 1984, said trench construction accidents still cause up to 100 deaths annually.

"Cave-ins are predictable. Every trench ultimately will cave in," he said. "It's just a question of timing."

-- William C. Bayne: (662) 996-1408

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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Cranes on Soft Ground Have Little Foundaton

Cranes MUST Be On Good Footing

The article below from Keoland Television relates that another fatality occurred while a worker was near a crane. It has been said that 85% of all related fatalities from crane upsets are to workers in the area of the crane, not to the crane operators. This has nothing to do with any particular fault of the operators, just a fact of the situations.

I've seen reports of quite a number of crane related incidents that resulted in fatalities this year and many more where, fortunately, did not result in a fatality. Several of these incidents resulted from unstable foundation for cranes. This occurred, in some cases, where a crane was set up on mats and the ground beneath the mats gave way. Others appear to have been caused by the lack of proper footing for the outriggers. It is of utmost importance that, prior to making a lift that ALL parties participating in the lift plan out ALL procedures and precautions involved, especially when working on disturbed or unstable soils. Pre-lift planning is so important, as related to this incident.


10/21/2008 5:57 PM

OSHA Investigates Construction Accident


We now know it was 51-year-old Henry Vandentop who died in Sioux Falls school construction accident on Monday. Tuesday, OSHA arrived on the scene to begin its investigation and construction on the site of Sioux Falls' newest elementary school has been halted until further notice.

There's no construction activity at the southwest Sioux Falls school site Tuesday, just a few workers analyzing the tipped crane. An officer from OSHA is among them.

OSHA's Area Director Bruce Beelman says, "Generally speaking, when there is a fatal accident we will conduct a complete and thorough comprehensive inspection of that entire work site."

Beelman can't say yet what led to Monday's accident. But that's what he hopes can be found. While initial reports from police say the crane sank into the ground, OSHA will also investigate how that crane was being used.
“The condition of the crane, the position of the boom and all of the other elements related to the operation,” says Beelman.

OSHA investigates an average of 12 work related deaths between South and North Dakota each year. Of which, Beelman says 30 to 40 percent happen on construction sites. That's why he says it’s important to look at every aspect of the accident.

Beelman says, "That's the reason why we do have a very high priority and have many local emphasis programs and regional emphasis programs related to construction activity."

Above all else, OSHA representatives hope they can learn from Monday's accident to prevent similar mishaps in the future.




Shawn Neisteadt
© 2008 KELOLAND TV. All Rights Reserved.

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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Close But Trench Worker Still Dead

Trench Worker's Death

The article below from The Troy Record, written by Andrew J. Bernstein describes an incident that shows that even if you try to do the best you can and provide the best safe work practices, just one wrong move can be fatal. Apparently the excavation was extended some 30 feet, the sides were not sloped not braced. The apparently entered the improperly shored or sloped ditch, the side collapsed burying the worker.

The contractor is to be commended on their safe work practices, however, this just shows that one let down on one safety procedure can be fatal.

Remember, Think the Safe Way, Work it Safely.



Ditch contractor called stickler for safety

By:Andrew J. Bernstein, Special to the Record
10/21/2008

CLIFTON PARK - Steven Fiske, who employed the construction worker killed in a trench collapse on Monday, is known to his employees as being a "nut on safety."


Brian Baker, a Stephentown-based attorney representing Fiske, said his client told him that in 17 years of construction he had never had an employee injured on the job.

"Steve only has seven employees, and he is deeply effect by this, and terribly saddened," said Baker.

On Tuesday, the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office identified the victim in the collapse as Brett R. Peck, 20, of Lennox, Mass. Baker said that Peck had been working for Fiske for several months, and had worked for another contractor prior to working for Fiske.

Terry Harding, assistant area director for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), said the accident was probably avoidable, adding that there appeared to have been violations of the agency's regulations of safe practices for digging trenches.

She added that this was the second trench collapse her office had investigated this year, but the first one that involved a fatality.

John Chavez, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Labor, which oversees OSHA, said safe trenching practices can include the use shoring to support walls. Alternately, trench walls can be sloped to stabilize them.

Baker explained that Peck had previously dug a section of trench, and sloped the sides, as his supervisor instructed him to do.

"The young man dug another ten to 15 feet and was supposed to slope that too, those were his clear instruction, but it appears he did not do that. It appears to us that he was aware that the soil was loosed more than you would ordinarily like," Baker said.

The ditch was about three feet wide, Baker said, and had been dug using an excavator in preparation for laying a 50-foot perforated drainage pipe. Fire officials said on Monday that the trench was between six and eight feet deep.

Although Baker said Pecks' reason for going into the trench was not clear, he may have been preparing to connect a ten-foot section of pipe when the walls collapsed.

Saratoga County Coroner John DeMartino, who examined Peck's body, said the cause of death was asphyxiation.

On Tuesday, the Sheriff's office released further details of the rescue, noting that first responders attempted to excavate Peck with their hands, and succeeded in uncovering his shoulder, at which time it was clear that he had died.

Jonesville Fire Chief Lou Pasquarell said at that point the decision to call in specialized equipment and personnel from the Stratton Air National Guard, New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, and Colonie Trench and Urban rescue was made to avoid placing emergency workers in an unsafe situation.

It took several hours to extricate Peck's body.

Harding said an investigation of the accident would include analyzing the soil content, protective measures taken by construction workers, and whether the trench had been inspected by a competent person.

She said the Fiske had been cooperating with the investigation, although he was not at the construction site when it collapsed.




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Thursday, October 2, 2008

Kitchen Fires

Home Fire Prevention

I received the following post as an email. I have seen fire demonstrations on home as well as on the job showing the dangers of improper ways of fire fighting safety, but this one literally "brings the facts to the forefront."


Kitchen Fire - Read this first, then watch the attached video...
I never realized that a wet dishcloth can be a one size fits all lid to cover a fire in a pan! This is a dramatic video (30-second, very short) about how to deal with a common kitchen fire... Oil in a frying pan. Read the following Introduction, then watch the show... It's a real eye-opener! At the Fire Fighting Training school they would demonstrate this with a deep fat fryer set on the fire field. An instructor would don a fire suit and using an 8 oz cup at the end of a 10 foot pole toss water onto the grease fire. The results got the attention of the students. The water, being heavier than oil, sinks to the bottom where it instantly becomes superheated. The explosive force of the steam blows the burning oil up and out. On the open field, it became a thirty foot high fireball that resembled a nuclear blast. Inside the confines of a kitchen, the fire ball hits the ceiling and fills the entire room. Also, do not throw sugar or flour on a grease fire. One cup of either creates the explosive force of two sticks of dynamite. This is a powerful message. Watch the video and don't forget what you see. Tell your whole family about this video. Or better yet, send this to them.








Did this get your attention?????????????
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Got 'er Done, But Safely

Git 'er Done, But Do It Safely!

Get the job done in a big hurry before freezing weather. This is the theme of the article below from Market Watch. This article points out that there are more incidents that happen during the fall when contractors tend to push workers and possibly take shortcuts to safe work practices to complete outside work before winter ice and snow begins.

This post is directed to the New York area, but holds true to all sections of the country as there are many icy days all the way south to the Gulf of Mexico. Freezing temperatures are experienced in almost every state in the country, especially in the early morning hours.

Contractors and owners of project sites get in too much a rush to get the job done and add many extra personnel that have to work above or below other work going on or go into an overtime mode to work as much as 12 or more hours per day, seven days per week. This situation creates fatigue of the workers who in turn take shortcuts to safe work practices.

Another situation that takes place during this time of year is industrial plants using holiday times to do Shut Down work in a few short days around Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year times. Shut downs (some refer to it as "Turn Overs") are usually perilous situations due to the long hours workers have to do to get the job done in a hurry.

I urge ALL contractors to place Very Close attention to Safe Work Practices during these rush, rush projects, especially this time of year.

Workers Are More at Risk for Accident Injuries on Construction Sites During the Fall and Winter

David Perecman, New York Construction Accident Attorney, Warns That Safety May Be Lax on a Construction Site as Contractors and Developers Rush Workers to Get Projects Done before the Winter Weather and Snow


Last update: 12:59 p.m. EDT Oct. 1, 2008
NEW YORK, Oct 01, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- New York construction accident attorney, David Perecman, warns the construction industries to carefully plan projects as the winter months arrive. The safety on construction sites can become very hazardous, very quickly as contractors and developers rush workers to get projects completed before winter arrives. As conditions worsen with wind and cold rain, surfaces become slippery. The Perecman Firm is reminding construction site workers to take extreme caution as the Fall and Winter seasons come and temperatures drop to avoid accidents and injuries on construction sites.
"This is the time of year when everyone wants to finish projects faster and may cut corners to get things done. There should be no compromise of the safety on a construction site just to get a project done faster," said David Perecman, lead construction accident attorney for New York's Perecman Firm. "Contractors and developers and New York City needs to monitor construction sites and penalize the managers and companies that force their employees to work in unsafe conditions or rushed conditions that cause less attention to safe work practices."
As winter approaches there are two problems to be aware of, rushing to get things done in the Fall season to avoid the delays of Winter weather and Winter weather itself. "Last year before the tragic weather related accidents I warned workers not to work in the snow. Every year there are accidents and injuries on construction sites due to windy and icy conditions. This year I am warning about the potential for developers and contractors to push the jobs because of the accidents that occurred last year. The New York Times reported that construction injuries have almost doubled from 23 in November of 2006 to 42 the same time in 2007."
About David Perecman and The Perecman Firm, PLLC:
For the past 25 years, New York construction accident attorney David H. Perecman, the founder of The Perecman Firm, PLLC has championed all types of personal injury and construction cases in New York State. David Perecman is the current Secretary of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA) and a chair of its Labor Law (Construction Accident Law) Committee. Mr. Perecman's achievements, often in the construction accident field, have brought him recognition as an Honoree in the National Law Journal's 2008 Hall of Fame, in New York Magazine's 2007 publication of "The Best Lawyers in America" and has earned him the votes by his peers as among the top 5% of lawyers in the New York region as published in The New York Times Magazine "New York Super Lawyers, Metro Edition".
He has recovered millions of dollars for his clients over the course of his career. Among his more recent victories, Mr. Perecman won a $15 million verdict(1) for an injured NYC construction worker who fractured his arm and injured his knee. Mr. Perecman has spent much of his career advocating for injured victims' rights and safety on construction sites including his recent statements regarding New York City crane construction accidents. The New York personal injury attorneys at The Perecman Firm have a depth of expertise in and breadth of knowledge well recognized in NYC, while their record and reputation speaks for itself.
(1)Later settled while on appeal for $7.940 million.
SOURCE: David Perecman 
For David Perecman, New York
Jay Berkowitz, 561-620-9121
jay@tengoldenrules.com




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