• 23
  • September
    2011

On Tuesday morning, a West Harlem scaffolding accident injured seventeen people. Scaffolding around a two-story building collapsed, falling onto a city bus. Those injured by this scaffolding / bus accident included eight bus riders and two police officers. Luckily, no one was seriously injured.

However, the New York City scaffolding accident did cause quite a stir. The scaffolding was erected around a building set to be demolished. When the scaffolding fell, so did bricks from the building.

Inspectors had recently examined the demolition site and had found nothing wrong with it. The New York Department of Buildings is investigating the scaffold collapse and has put a stop-work order on the construction site in order to prevent future construction-related accidents.

Scaffolding Accidents

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has released standards for erecting and maintaining scaffolding. For example:

  • All scaffolds must be maintained in a safe condition for those on and around the scaffolds
  • Unstable objects (i.e., concrete blocks) may not be used to support scaffolds
  • Scaffolds must be able to support "four times the maximum intended load"
  • Scaffolds that are weakened due to any cause must be repaired immediately
  • Planks / platforms used in scaffolds must be "overlapped or secured for movement"
  • Tools and debris cannot accumulate and create a hazard on scaffolds
  • Scaffolds must be properly secured to permanent structures

This is only a sampling of the many rules put in place for scaffolds. Whether or not an OSHA rule was violated in the New York scaffold accident has yet to be determined. If the company erecting and maintaining the scaffolding violated an OSHA rule, it may face fines and could be held liable for injuries caused in the scaffolding / bus accident.

Source: NY Daily News, "Scaffolding on Two-Story Building Collapses on City Bus; More Than Dozen People Hurt, Including Cops," Trevor Kapp, Bob Kappstatter, Rich Schapiro, Sept. 20, 2011.