Construction workers get another 6 months to meet safety training requirements

For the second time since the new requirements were enacted, city officials have extended the deadline for construction workers to complete new safety training.

The City Council on Wednesday granted workers another six months to complete at least 30 hours of training, meaning the new deadline is Dec. 1, 2019. The bill also gives the Department of Buildings the option to extend this deadline another six months, as long as the agency makes a decision by Sept. 1.

In 2017, the City Council approved Intro 1447, now Local Law 196, which requires a combination of training courses administered by Occupational Safety and Health Administration — known as OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 — or a 100-hour program approved by DOB. In November, the DOB extended the first deadline to June 1, citing “insufficient resources” among training providers. Even with this latest extension, the deadline to meet the full 40-hour requirement is still Sept. 1, 2020.

The city has been grappling with a steady stream of construction deaths, logging 18 last year. Last month, three construction workers were killed on the job in a single week. At the time, Council member Robert Cornegy, Jr. and other officials called for the acceleration of Local Law 196’s implementation.

According to The City, many landlords have failed to report deaths on their site to the DOB, as required by law. Last year, only one of at least a dozen deaths was reported to the agency.