May 8, 2008

New York City targets “high-risk” construction sites

New York

Following the resignation of the city’s embattled buildings commissioner, the Michael Bloomberg administration has announced a US$4 million plan to hire specialized engineers to inspect “high-risk” construction sites citywide and develop new procedures to make the work safer.

In his first official announcement as acting buildings commissioner, Robert D. LiMandri, the former deputy, said a team of about 20 engineers would assess excavations, crane operations and high-rise concrete operations during a sweep through construction sites around the city, reports the New York Times.

The engineers, he said, would also be asked to review the Buildings Department’s current inspection procedures to identify any potential changes to ensure safety.

“This year we have seen an increase in accidents and injuries related to high-risk construction activities, and we must make sure that as construction activity in the city continues to increase, the department’s ability to hold the construction industry to higher safety standards keeps pace,” LiMandri said in a statement. “This investment is about identifying ways in which the department and the construction industry can make high-risk activities safer.”

The Bloomberg administration is keen on rebuilding public confidence after an embarrassing jump in the number of fatal construction accidents this year. Those deaths were a major reason that the previous buildings commissioner, Patricia J. Lancaster, resigned on Tuesday.

Lancaster, the first woman to hold the post, was credited with modernizing the department and developing a new building code, but was facing growing criticism not only for the fatalities but also for embarrassing mistakes on construction permits and inspection oversights.

In light of the accidents, the City Council held a hearing last week about construction safety.

In addition, two state assemblymen, James F. Brennan and Vito J. Lopez, are holding a hearing today at 250 Broadway.

After the city announced the US$4 million safety program, Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn praised the mayor for “a much needed investment in the long-term future” of the Buildings Department.

But, she added, “The best way to restore the public’s trust in the agency and ensure that all who live and work around construction sites are as safe as possible is to hire an adequate force of well-trained, professional inspectors.”

But Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg dismissed calls for hiring additional inspectors. “You can always look at every agency and think that they could do more and that they could use more people,” he said.

“The reality of the world is that every agency is probably understaffed, and the taxpayer is probably overtaxed.”

The mayor offered a different approach, suggesting that inspectors could “show up at different times, unexpectedly.”

“You change your methods of inspection, of permitting, and there are ways to statistically do an awful lot with a relatively few number of people. The Buildings Department actually does have an awful lot of inspectors.”

The department temporarily shut down eight of the 29 tower cranes in use at construction sites in the city during an inspection sweep that began shortly after the March 15 collapse of a crane on 51st Street at Second Avenue that left seven people dead. Inspectors are now checking the 220 mobile cranes in use in the city.

DCN News Services

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