New York, NY – A electrician narrowly escaped electrocution on a 10th Avenue construction site in Chelsea this past Thursday, underscoring, yet again, just how dangerous building in New York City has become.
The harrowing incident occurred sometime before 10 a.m. on May 30, on a nonunion JRM Construction site located between W. 13th and W. 14th streets.
According to the Department of Buildings, the unidentified worker was in the switch gear room when he was “shocked” after touching the “service bus.”
The worker, photographed being carried off the construction site on a stretcher with a gruesome gash on his head, was reportedly sent to an area hospital in stable condition.
Work at the 10 Avenue job site, meanwhile, continued.
New York City has yet to fully implement enhanced safety training measures initially mandated two years ago, amidst a rash of worker deaths on mostly nonunion construction sites.
An average of 20 construction workers were killed on the job annually in New York City between the years 2007 and 2014. During that time period, electrocution was the third leading cause of on-the-job deaths, right behind falls and workers being crushed or being fatally struck by deadly objects.
Last month, the New York City Council extended the deadline for construction workers to receive enhanced safety training by six months.
The NYC Vital Signs report issued in 2017 found that worker safety is the responsibility of employers and recommended, in part, that they provide “all necessary safety training” and “assign employees tasks appropriate to their skill level.”
