New Crane and Construction Laws for NYC

New York City has six new laws related to construction safety and construction cranes. The new laws were signed last week, along with eight additional bills. Here’s some info on the new construction-related laws:

Intro. 81-A requires the Department of Buildings (DOB) to notify OSHA about Construction Code violations that may endanger workers.

“If New York City is going to prevent another 33 construction worker fatalities over the next two years, we need to make sure that the Buildings Department is communicating with OSHA about violations that could jeopardize worker safety. We cannot solve the problem if the left hand is not working together with the right hand.” said Council Member Rory I. Lancman.

Intro. 1433-A requires DOB to list online incidents that have occurred on a construction site.

Now, every injury and every death on a construction site must be counted, regardless of whether a construction worker or member of the public. “By counting every injury and death, we’ll be able to see who is getting hurt, where and why so that we as a city can make construction safer,” said Council Member Ben Kallos. “While Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Department of Buildings (DOB) count injuries and deaths in different ways, the city will count everyone requiring reporting within 72 hours about contractors, the incident, nature of work, hours on the job, injuries, who was hurt, collective bargaining rights of those injured, details on the site and more, with fines of up to $25,000 and daily fines of as much as $1,000 for those who fail to report.”

Intros 1446 and 1448 require safety plans and a safety monitoring program at construction sites, and strengthen licensing requirements for crane operators.

1446-A requires Class-B hoisting machine operators to get a license rating to use certain cranes.

1448-A requires contractors to retain construction superintendents for all major projects at buildings over three stories.

“The law requiring construction superintendents for all major projects at buildings over three stories will expand safety supervision to an additional 2,300 higher-risk sites citywide. This measure, along with the crane-safety bills signed today, will enshrine in law safety enhancements that DOB has been implementing through regulation,” said Buildings Commissioner Rick D. Chandler, PE.

Intro. 1421-A requires certain cranes to have GPS or other locating devices or for DOB to be notified when these cranes are moved on or off a work site.

Intro. 1435-A requires certain cranes to be equipped with data-logging equipment to record operations & work conditions.

Resources:

Read the Mayor’s news release on the new laws.
Visit the OSHA Crane, Derrick and Hoist Safety page.
Review NCCCO safety information links.
Browse crane safety signs and labels.
Download the ComplianceSigns Crane Signs Compliance-Resource Bulletin (pdf).
Browse construction safety signs.