The New York Times is reporting that New York City is experiencing a building boom that has transformed barren blocks and led to a frenzy of construction on commercial and residential buildings across all five boroughs. But that activity has come at a sobering cost: In the last two years, the number of workers hurt or killed in construction accidents has surged.
The rise in deaths and injuries – mostly among undocumented immigrant laborers – far exceeds the rate of new construction over the same period. It is start evidence of the view increasingly held by safety inspectors, government officials and prosecutors, that safety measures at these job sites are woefully inadequate.
A review of every construction fatality in the past two years by the New York Times has found that many could have be, as a federal investigation into one accident put it – “completely avoidable” Time and again, in thousands of pages of safety reports, handwritten notes, crude drawings, lawsuits and other documents, as well as interviews with the worker’ relatives and friends, the same issues emerged.
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