As a three-story building in lower Manhattan was being demolished, a back wall collapsed, killing one worker and injuring three others. The worker who died was trapped under falling rubble, while the three injured workers were thrown off a scaffolding as the wall collapsed.
An initial review of the accident concluded that a second-story support beam was overloaded and collapsed, causing the wall and rubble to fall to the first floor.
The Department of Buildings said the project had five recent safety violations, according to NBC4 New York, and a previous partial stop worker order had been issued. But the violations had been corrected and work continued. A full stop work order has now been issued for the building.
This is New York’s first construction death of 2023. Eleven workers were killed in construction accidents in 2022, according to CBS News New York.
Greg Zimmerman is senior contributing editor for FacilitiesNet.com and Building Operating Management magazine.
