What is the Long Island Scaffold Law?

Mar 21, 2022

Owners and general contractors are responsible for the workers who work on their construction sites, at least in New York. This is thanks to Labor Law 240, which has been around since 1885.

“All contractors and owners and their agents, except owners of one-and-two family dwellings who contract for but do not direct or control the work, in the erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning, or pointing of a building or structure shall furnish or erect, or cause to be furnished or erected for the performance of such labor, scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders, slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, braces, irons, ropes, and other devices which shall be so constructed, placed, or operated as to give proper protection to a person so employed.”

If the staging is more than 20 feet from the ground or floor, must provide: “A safety rail of suitable material properly attached, bolted, braced, or otherwise secured, rising at least 34″ above the floor or main portions of such scaffolding or staging and extending along the entire length of the outside and the ends thereof, with only such openings as may be necessary for the delivery of materials. Such scaffolding or staging shall be so fastened as to prevent it from swaying the building or structure.”

All scaffolding: “Shall be so constructed as to bear four times the maximum weight required to be dependent therefrom or placed there on when in use.”

If employers don’t provide proper protections against falling objects, falls from heights, or structure collapses, then they are in violation of Labor Law 240. If you can prove they were in violation of the law and that violation caused an injury due to a gravity related accident, then you can sue them for your losses.

To file a claim you must prove that the entity responsible was the owner or general contractor on a construction project, that the accident was gravity-related, and that your injury was caused by said gravity-related accident.

If your employer was in violation of the scaffolding law then you may still file a workers compensation claim. You can also file a scaffolding law claim. This will help you recover for future economic losses, pain, suffering, and the lost wages that workers compensation will not cover.

Here at Miller, Montiel, and Strano we have helped hundreds of construction workers, electricians, carpenters, bricklayers, laborers, welders, and other workers recover compensation under Scaffolding Law. We have also helped citizens who were injured in gravity-related accidents while walking near city construction sites, or who have been forced to deal with scaffolding while conducting daily activities, such as going to school.

You do have recourse if you were injured in a construction accident.

Contact our office to get more help today.