Category: Construction Site Accidents
Dangerous NJ / NY Worksite Conditions: What Can You Do?
According to OSHA, you have a right to a safe work environment. When there are unsafe conditions, you can do something about it.
A Nexus between Laws: Where Labor Laws §240(1) and §241(6) Overlap
By: Robert P. Valletti Despite the fact that cases often allege violations of both Labor Laws §240(1) and §241(6), there are vast differences between the two statutes, such as when one section will aply and...
Using Your Rights Under the OSH Act of 1970
Many construction workers know of OSHA only as the organization that doles out all of the safety regulations and holds cumbersome inspections. But what they don’t realize is that OSHA is tasked with ensuring that employers are protecting their employees’ right to a safe workplace.
New Jersey Ironworker Falls into Acid-Filled Tank
An old roof gave way and caused a worker to fall 20 into a vat of nitric acid. He suffered a punctured lung, broken hip bones, a broken pelvis, broken ribs, and burns on his legs.
The Breadth of Accidents Covered by Labor Law §240(1): Andresky v. Wenger Construction Co.
By: Robert P. Valletti Defense Attorneys seek alternative avenues to try and beat the liberally construed plaintiff-friendly Labor Law §240(1). The main defenses include doctrines such as sole proximate cause and failure to use safety...
Fourteen Construction Workers Injured After Elevator Drops
Last week, a group of construction workers entered a freight elevator in a building in Chelsea. What happened next typically only occurs on amusement park rides. The elevator car plummeted, dropping the workers from the...
Stallone v. Plaza Construction Corp. and the “Only/Sole Means” Doctrine
There is a concept in New York Labor Law §240(1) known as the “sole means” or “only means” doctrine which basically states that is the equipment or method used during a construction activity is the...
OSHA’s Fall Prevention Campaign
OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) says that falls are the leading cause of construction site fatalities. If you’ve worked on scaffolding – whether just a few stories up or on a high-rise — you...
A Worker’s Conduct and Poximate Cause: Aburto v. City of New York
By: Robert P. Valletti Even where a worker “violently and forcefully shakes” one of the rails of a scaffoled while dismantiling it, which ultimately causes the scaffold to collapse and the worker to fall through...
Reinforcing the Standard: A Plaintiff Is Not Required To Present Evidence of a Structural Defect in Failed Safety Equipment under New York Labor Law §240(1)
A common issue that personal injury lawyers deal with in cases involving the New York Labor Law §240 is whether the plaintiff is required to, or if not required to should do so anyway, present evidence of a specific structural defect in the safety equipment that failed and caused the plaintiff to fall from a height or sustain an injury from a falling object.
