Welcome to Building Trades Employers Association of New York's (BTEA New York) monthly Safety Brief, your virtual briefcase of important safety news and updates. This digital publication contains highlights from BTEA New York's Construction Safety Committee July 19th meeting with representatives from the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

BTEA New York hosted a very successful SafeBuild Forum on June 22, 2023, with over 300 people in attendance. Our speakers did an excellent job bringing the issue of mental health and wellness to the forefront and engaging people in some great conversations around suicide prevention.

Our entire team worked incredibly hard to bring all of this together. We are grateful Governor Kathy Hochul was able to attend, and wanted to give a special thank you to our Safety Committee chairs, Bill Dayton and Shane Skennonto. They do an excellent job leading the Safety Committee and ensuring safety is at the forefront of our minds.

We have added the recorded speakers and panel discussions to our website. I encourage everyone to take advantage of those resources—there is a lot of great content our member companies can use to make their jobsites safer.

Elizabeth Crowley

BTEA President & CEO

According to the CDC, construction has the highest rate of suicide among all occupations. Suicide is the leading cause of death in our industry and four times the national average.

National Construction Suicide Prevention Week is the week of September 5^th. BTEA is taking the opportunity to build on the momentum from our successful SafeBuild Forum to develop a Mental Wellness Toolbox Talk that all contractors can utilize to engage their colleagues on this important issue.

The BTEA has convened a working group to develop a video and other resources that will be shared in advance of September 5^th. We implore all our member contractors to sign up to host a toolbox talk on their jobsites focused on the issues of mental health/wellness and suicide prevention.

We understand this can be a tricky topic to broach, but it is an important one that should not be avoided. The resources we are developing will assist you in having this important conversation.

Lendlease and Living Works are hosting a three-hour workshop that will help you recognize the signs of distress, engage with those experiencing distress and refer them to the appropriate resources. If this is something you are interested in participating in, please let me know and I will send along more information.

Finally, our next Safety Committee meeting will be held on September 20^th. We will be joined by Sebastian de Ghellinck, founder of SkillSignal, a software platform that addresses safety and compliance challenges on jobsites. Sebastian has developed a series of initiatives, in conjunction with Princeton University, designed to help improve well-being on construction sites. Sebastian will be sharing his findings at our meeting—we look forward to a robust and productive discussion and encourage everyone to attend.

Patrick A. Wehle

BTEA Executive Vice President 

There was one injury that resulted from excavation work, and several injuries resulting from unsafe material handling. While there were no fatalities, the number of incidents increased from 55 in May.

Two construction workers were severely injured in a gas tank explosion at a Midtown building. The workers were using a Sawzall to open a box containing an acetylene tank when blade sparks ignited the blast. An inspection found the tank was improperly stored in a gang box, which ignited the explosion. Fortunately, no fatalities resulted from this incident.

June 2023 Stop Work Orders (SWOs)

Construction Safety Compliance and Enforcement performed 3,461 inspections, issuing 1,124 violations, including 257 SWOs. They also performed 512 SWO re-inspections and responded to 765 complaints. The turn-around time for SWO reinspections is about a day and a half. 

This report was provided by BTEA New York

Building Trades Employers Association of New York is the construction contractor's unified advocate for construction safety standards, professional development, government affairs, public relations and fostering communication between public officials, public and private owners, labor, and the public. Realizing that a construction industry is essential to the vibrant future of New York City, its activities are dedicated to a building environment meeting the highest of environmental standards, integrity, cost efficiency, productivity and value that contributes to improving the quality of life in New York City. BTEA represents 24 Construction Manager, General Contractor, Subcontractor and Specialty Trade contractor associations with over 1,200 individual contractor members. 

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