Construction Injury Newsroom

Buildings Department Releases Annual Safety Report Card

Buildings Commissioner Patricia J. Lancaster, FAIA, today announced overall construction-related fatalities significantly decreased during the past year as construction activity throughout the five boroughs continued at a sustained pace. The Buildings Department released this number as part of its annually-published Safety Report Card, which provides a citywide overview of construction accident, injury and fatality data. The Buildings Department collects and analyzes the data to identify trends and steps to improve construction safety. The Safety Report Card will be formally delivered to the industry today at the 2007 Building Trades Employers' Association (BTEA) Safety Conference.

Between January 1 and October 31 of Calendar Year 2007, 3.5% more new building and alteration permits had been issued as compared to the same period of time in 2006. During this period:

• Construction-related fatalities decreased 43%, from 14 to 8
• Construction-related injuries stayed relatively constant, from 105 to 104
• Accidents on high-rise construction sites increased, from 23 to 42
• Accidents on low-rise construction sites decreased, from 66 to 51

“Today's numbers demonstrate that the proactive safety and enforcement initiatives implemented during the last year are building momentum and having a positive effect on construction safety,” said Commissioner Lancaster. “As the pace of construction activity remains steady throughout the next year, we are calling on contractors, construction managers and workers to join us in continuing to raise the professional level of care in upholding safety regulations on job sites of all sizes - before accidents happen.”

The decrease in construction-related fatalities can be attributed in part to new safety and enforcement initiatives implemented by the Buildings Department during the past year to raise the bar for construction standards citywide. For example, the new Scaffold Safety Team has performed 1,356 proactive inspections and issued 425 violations and 340 Stop Work Orders in 2007. The Team is charged with proactively inspecting buildings and construction sites with suspended scaffolds to demand safe and compliant practices. With the dedication of the Suspended Scaffold Worker Safety Task Force and the commitment of the construction industry, scaffold-related fatalities and injuries declined by 83% and 35% this year, respectively.