Building Inspectors Tour Atlantic Yards In Brooklyn During Construction Safety Week
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) - It's Construction Safety Week. What better time for the city to showcase precautions in action at the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn?
WCBS 880's Marla Diamond: 16 Deaths Since 2008
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Buildings inspectors like Eal Amos distributed posters, banners and orange bracelets to the hard hats at the Atlantic Yards project.
"We're not here only to give them violations and what not, [but to] get that all going back home at the end of the day to their families. We don't want to see people dangling, falling off the edge of the building," Amos told WCBS 880 reporter Marla Diamond.
Amos said the inspectors visited the site each week.
"We're trying to see that the workers themselves have a good practice, whoever needs to wear harnesses, whoever needs to have hard hats, people have the right equipment," said Amos.
On Tuesday, Amos observed workers on the skeleton of the Barclays Center arena, which will become the home of the current New Jersey Nets basketball team.
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"We want to see them tied off. We want to see them having harnesses on," said Amos.
Sixteen workers on various projects have died since 2008 due to improper harnessing, according to Deputy Buildings Commissioner Eugene Corcoran.
"Our campaign slogan this year is 'experience is not enough' and we know that most workers die from falls from height," says Corcoran. "In many cases, unfortunately they are experienced workers who have become complacent."
Two workers died this year at a church under construction on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Though there were harnesses on the site, the workers weren't wearing them.
