Hurricane Sandy left a lot of destruction in its path after hitting the Eastern United States in late October. Many areas in New York, and in several surrounding states, have been devastated. Now that the storm has cleared, the massive cleanup must begin. In many cases, towns, cities and homes need to be rebuilt by construction crews. With this increased construction and the pressure to rebuild quickly, there may be an increased possibility for construction accidents.
Unfortunately, in New York City the storm itself caused a crane accident at a construction site. The crane was attached to 90th story of a luxury apartment high rise — some 1,000 feet off the ground. In the 95 mile-per-hour wind gusts during the storm, the boom of the crane snapped causing it to dangle precariously above streets.
In order to reduce the risk of injuries, residents in 15 buildings near the construction site were evacuated. Furthermore, the city shut off the electricity and steam pipes around the building. A safety net was also erected in case the crane fell to the street. Luckily, no one was hurt in this construction accident. City officials expected it to take several days to figure out how to secure and remove the fallen crane.
While a lot of the Eastern Seaboard tries to get back to normal life, construction workers must remember to protect themselves. While it was lucky that no one was hurt in this accident, not all accidents will turn out this way. There are safety laws in place to help keep construction workers safe. These rules should be followed at all times during the cleanup efforts. If a construction accident does occurs, any injured worker is entitled to workers’ compensation to help pay for expenses relating to the accident.
Source: Forbes, “Collapsed Crane At One57 Tower Being Secured,” Morgan Brennan, Oct. 31, 2012