Maintenance Worker Accident Lawyers in NYC

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and OHSA, there were five thousand, three hundred and thirty-three (5,333) fatal occupational injuries during 2019. Almost 1,100 of work-related fatalities were construction site accidents that resulted in death. Constructing buildings, heavy and civil engineering construction, and specialty trade contractors are significantly impacted.

Two hundred and twenty-nine (229) deaths resulted from maintenance worker accidents. GMWs, or grounds maintenance workers had the highest number of deaths since the worker fatality census was created in 2003. A worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury in 2019. Maintenance worker accidents are even more common on dangerous construction sites. Maintenance worker accidents made up nineteen point eight (19.8 %) of all fatal injuries on job sites in 2019.

Common Maintenance Worker Accidents

Slips, Trips and Falls – About twenty three percent (23%) of maintenance worker accidents result from slips, trips, and falls. The total occupational death rate increased eleven (11) percent in 2019 to eight hundred and eighty (880) deaths from slips, trips and falls.

Contact with Objects and Equipment – Accounts for about twenty-five percent of all maintenance worker accidents. These include struck by objects or equipment, struck by falling object, struck by a powered vehicle or other construction heavy equipment, caught in, or compressed by equipment or objects, and caught in running equipment or machinery.

Exposure to Harmful Substances or Environments – These maintenance worker accidents are unfortunately typical and are events like electrocution, drowning, and inhalation of some harmful substances.

Fires and Explosions

New York Labor Law Protects Maintenance Workers Safety

New York Labor Law protects workers from specific construction site hazards– Labor Law Sections 200, 240 and 241(6) ensure that property owners and general contractors keep construction sites and work-sites safe and that they comply with Rule 23 of the New York Industrial Code. New York Labor Law §200(1) states that:

All places … shall be so constructed, equipped, arranged, operated, and conducted as to provide reasonable and adequate protection to the lives, health and safety of all persons employed therein or lawfully frequenting such places.

Labor Law §200 is a codification of the common law duty of an owner or employer to provide a safe place to work and is essentially the same as a negligence claim (see, Jock v. Fien, 80 N.Y.2d 965, 590 N.Y.S.2d 878 [1992]).

New York City Construction Accident Attorneys

Have you been injured on a construction site? The injury lawyers of Pazer, Epstein, Jaffe & Fein, P.C. have successfully litigated construction accident and maintenance worker accident cases in New York City for decades. We have won millions of dollars for our clients in settlements and jury verdicts. The law limits the time allowed to file a personal injury claim, worker’s compensation, or New York Labor Law lawsuit, so please contact us for a free consultation, and check out testimonials from our past clients. We have served New York City, including the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island exclusively for fifty (50) years. We may be reached at (212) 847-5007 in New York or (718) 954-9986 in Long Island.