The recent New York City Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) report “The Price of Life: 2015 Report on Construction Fatalities in NYC” brought to light some alarming statistics on workplace safety for the city’s many construction workers. It also specifically highlighted the role that unions play in making construction workplaces safer.
The report tracked OSHA violation reports for both union and non-union sites. It found that of the 31 construction sites listed on OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) list, 28 of them were not unionized. Twenty-three of the 28 non-union sites made the list with two or more “willful or repeated” violations of safety regulations in a single inspection. One non-union site, the report noted, racked up “an extraordinary 41 violations.”
Non-union workers suffer from some of the least safe construction workplace conditions, and they suffer more deaths and injuries as a result. For instance, the report noted that in 2012, 79 percent of all fatal falls at construction sites occurred at non-union construction sites.
These numbers demonstrate how vital construction labor union protections are for workers and how hard construction unions must fight in order to maintain these protections. However, an injured worker can also receive protection from a personal injury attorney if s/he suffers an on-the-job injury.
At Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP, our experienced New York construction accident attorneys have the experience and knowledge to help construction workers get the compensation they need to make a recovery. Contact us today to learn more.