Personal Injury Law

Construction Worker Falls to His Death in Manhattan

By Chrissie Cole

A safety strap system intended to secure a construction worker to the building he was working on failed, causing him to plunge to his death on Monday, according to authorities.

The worker, 25, of Bayside, Queens, was installing windows at a condo tower when the construction accident occurred and he fell from the 23^rd floor to a 15^th floor balcony. Contractors at the site, the Laurel, had been cited by city inspectors for 25 code violations last year.

The incident is under investigation, but that "a failure of the safety strap connecting the worker to the concrete ceiling played a role," according to the city's commissioner of buildings. The Buildings Department, late Monday, said the entire strap had pulled from its concrete and steel mooring and remained attached to his harness when he fell.

All work at the site has been halted pending a full investigation by the Buildings Department, into the methods the crews were employing to install safety straps throughout the building.

Ten people have been killed in high-rise construction accidents in this year so far, including seven that were killed on March 8 when a 200ft. crane collapsed at another condominium project.

Full post as published by New York City Personal Injury Lawyer on April 15, 2008 (boomark / email).