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 June 21 meeting with representatives from the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). | | |
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June marks outgoing President Lou Coletti’s final BTEA Safety Committee meeting. It was also announced that Lena Vega has resigned her post as BTEA’s Senior Vice President after 15 years of service. The group welcomed Patrick A. Wehle as the new Executive Vice President as of June 1. A 22-year-veteran of city government, Wehle comes to the BTEA from the Department of Buildings, where he served as Assistant Commissioner. BTEA President and CEO Elizabeth Crowley welcomed Wehle aboard and thanked Coletti and Vega for their years of service to the organization. | |
NYC DEP Truck Idling Program Exemption Sticker | | |
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The NYC Idling Law, enforced by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), prohibits vehicles from “idling” for more than 3 minutes (1 minute in front of schools). Members of the public can report violations in return for a portion of any fines collected. In response to a significant increase in complaints, many of which were dismissed, DEP is launching an exemption sticker pilot program that would apply to those vehicles that are exempt from the NYC Idling Law, including those vehicles idling to operate their lift gate to load or unload materials, or for vehicles which idle to perform tasks separate from traditional transportation (e.g. cranes, packers, mixers, etc.). The BTEA has reached out to member association executives to compile a list of vehicles for inclusion in the program. | | |
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May 2023 Incident Report
There were 46 incidents in April, down from 60 in March, and no fatalities. Most incidents were falls from ladders.
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May 2023 Stop Work Orders (SWOs)
Construction Safety Compliance and Enforcement issued 333 (SWOs), consisting of 309 partial and 24 full SWOs. The number represents an increase of 100 over last month. May saw 392 reinspection requests with a service level of 1.5 days, a slight uptick from 1.4 days last month.
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May Site Safety Training (SST) Cards
There were 20 SST Card violations issued in May, for a total of 72 to date in 2023.
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Staffing Update
- Vishnu Persaud serves as Director of Construction Safety Enforcement.
- MD Islam and Heriberto Mendez serve as Directors of Construction Safety Compliance.
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Occupational Safety and
Health Administration
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Recent Canada Wildfires—OSHA reported that in response to inquiries regarding last month’s wildfire emergency, the organization referred air quality questions and concerns to neighboring states that have established wildfire protocols and recommendations.
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Summer Months and Heat Safety—A reminder of the critical importance of training onsite personnel on the signs, symptoms and prevention of heat illness. New workers are especially vulnerable — 75 percent of worker fatalities have happened within the first three weeks on the job. Also, taking a worker showing signs of heat illness to a cool environment is the right thing to do but can end tragically if the worker is left alone for too long.
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OSHA National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Falls — Concerning the Working at Heights Emphasis Program, OSHA shared a news release from the US Department of Labor announcing national emphasis program to reduce, prevent workplace falls, a leading cause of workplace fatalities. View news release here. A directive was also released: CPL 03-00-025 National Emphasis Program - Falls.
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A related heat hazard seminar and Q&A session is scheduled for July 12 at 2 p.m. Be sure to register and submit a question in advance.
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MTA Construction & Development | | |
In May, there was a total of 18 incidents, a 38 percent decrease from April (29 incidents), resulting in 3 lost times with 7 recordables. The leading categories of incidents were slips, trips and falls, followed by struck-bys, and debris-in-eyes. There were no serious injuries for the month. For the year to date, lost times are trending downward compared to this point in 2022—21 vs. 33, a decrease of 13 percent. However, there has been an uptick in recordables of 26 percent, mostly the result of struck-bys and slips, trips and falls. Labor force hours remain steady. | |
Note: This month’s Safety Meeting was held on the eve of the SAFEBUILD. Below is a brief post-event summary | |
This year's SAFEBUILD Mental Health & Wellness Best Practices, took place before a packed house on June 23 at Club 101 in New York City. Governor Kathy Hochul was on hand and delivered remarks. Other speakers included new DOB Commissioner Jimmy Oddo and OSHA Eastern Regional director, Richard Mendelson. Inclusion and wellness expert Dan Lester was the keynote speaker. The emphasis of this year’s conference was mental health and wellness, bringing together stakeholders to discuss resources and best practices to address the psychological health of construction personnel. Highlights included panels on peer-to-peer support efforts and how employers can integrate them into their employee resource programs, methods to improve overall safety culture on work sites and how all stakeholders – unions, contractors, government – can collaborate successfully to address mental health and wellness. | |
Lesson Learned (from Shane Skennonto, VP Safety, Hunter Roberts Construction Group) | | |
An employee was washing down brick while another was taking down scaffolding. One of the planks slipped and struck the brick worker, causing a 12-foot fall. The worker was taken offsite in an ambulance (he is recovering). The incident led to a safety discussion about whether it was necessary to take down scaffolding while another team was working nearby. Lesson: slow down. | |
A Reminder of Available Web Resources | |
This report was provided by BTEA New York | |
Building Trades Employers Association 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 26 Construction Manager, General Contractor, Subcontractor and Specialty Trade contractor associations with over 1,200 individual contractor members. | | | | |
