The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed $464,600 in fines over two contractors' safety lapses at the Deutsche Bank building. Contractor Bovis Lend Lease, which had been retained by the state government, and its former subcontractor John Galt Corporation had been dismantling the building when a seven-alarm fire, caused by a worker's smoking, broke out last August. more ›

The tragic death of a construction worker at the Trump Soho building has put the spotlight on the spotty history of a contractor on the project. On Monday afternoon, a worker, Yuriy Vanchytskyy (pictured below), fell 42 stories to his death when the molds he and other workers were pouring concrete into broke, causing a collapse into lower floors. more ›

Yesterday morning, a worker died after falling inside a tanker at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The FDNY says that Arturo Medina lost his footing when climbing down a 50 foot ladder on the ship's hull. The only way into the hull is through an 18 inch hole, so rescue crews had to create a pulley system to lift Medina out. Medina died later at Brooklyn Hospital Center. more ›

Lawsuits claiming hostile work environments have now hit the gym. A group of janitors claim that while working at Equinox fitness club locations, the Post excitedly details, they were "exposed inappropriate, lewd, embarrassing and humiliating sexual behavior and activities occurring in the showers, saunas, steam and [men's] locker rooms." more ›

Twenty-nine workers died in construction accidents in New York during the 12 months ending September 30, marking a 61% increase over the previous year and a 5-year high, according to OSHA and the NYC Dept. of Buildings. Over half of the victims fell to their death, while falling material was the second most fatal cause. more ›

Surprise, surprise, a government agency tasked to work on something September 11-related will not do what they set out to do but actually do something that's much less involving. A capsule history as gleaned from the NY Times: The EPA has spent the past four years mostly testing air and talking about what "contaminated" air really contains. There has been some cleaning, but not enough which provoked Senator Hillary Clinton to get the EPA to form a panel of experts that ended up recommending more aggressive sampling study that would have included lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, residential and commercial buildings. But then the panel couldn't agree with the government about what the benchmark for testing would be, so that sampling plan was 86'd. The Times doesn't sugarcoat the problem: "The revised plan represents the failure of a technical panel of scientists, local officials and community representatives to agree on the final details of the original, more comprehensive plan. After nearly two years of often rancorous debate and negotiation, the panel was stalled. More than four years have passed since the terrorist attack on the twin towers." more ›