Yesterday’s tragic crane collapse in NYC killed four and injured 10. It happened in mid-town Manhattan and could have been much worse. The site at 50th Street and 2nd Avenue is a bustling mid city intersection. The crane was on the 19th floor of a 44 story condo that was being built. There had been prior violations at this work site and neighbors complained that the workers were working illegal hours and the building was going up too quickly. An owner of the contstruction company Reliance Contruction Group, Stephen Kaplan, said “this was a freak accident” and tried to explain what happened. Well Mr. Kaplan, I have something to tell you. There are no “freak accidents” at construction sites. That is why there are federal and state regulations dealing with workplace safety. That is why everyone involved in a construction project has to forsee what could possibly go wrong and prevent against it. While these four workers died a tragic and needless death, hopefully it will not be in vain. Owners like Mr. Kaplan and others of his ilk, will be sucessfully sued. Hopefully, construction companies and building owners will begin to take worker safety seriously so these tragedies can end.
Comments for this article are closed.