Harlem Scaffold Accident Endangered Pedestrians and Construction Workers, Says New York Scaffolding Accident Lawyer
A construction accident knocked scaffolding and bricks onto a sidewalk and a city bus in Harlem, injuring 18 people.

NEW YORK, NY, October 01, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Eighteen people were injured in a New York scaffold accident when scaffolding and part of a building collapsed on to a MTA bus. The scaffolding had been erected for a five-story brick building that was being demolished on W. 125th Street near Frederick Douglass Boulevard.

A number of New York scaffolding accident lawyers expect The Department of Buildings to issue several violations against Disano Demolition, the construction company that was carrying out the demolition of the building that partially collapsed.

As reported by local Manhattan news source DNAinfo.com, Harlem Councilwoman Inez Dickens said violations will be issued for illegal mechanical equipment found on the site as well as an improper course of demolition, among other problems.

"They found equipment that should not have been on the site and the demolition was not done correctly," said Dickens.

New York scaffolding accident lawyers understand construction sites are full of various dangers that have the potential to cause serious and severe injuries. Scaffolding accidents are among the potential dangers. Scaffolding accidents are also responsible for many construction worker injuries and fatalities each year."

"What can be learned from this incident is that scaffold accidents can injure pedestrians and other individuals not connected to the construction site," said David Perecman, the former head New York construction accident lawyer for the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, and a lecturer on construction accident law. "Unfortunately and in many instances, scaffolding accidents are caused by negligence."

Eight injured victims were reportedly passengers on the bus.

According to the New York Post, fallen bricks, rocks and debris trapped a number of people under the rubble. They were rescued by firefighters.

The most severe scaffold accident injuries were to a construction worker who jumped off the scaffolding as it was starting to fall. Three other construction workers suffered minor injuries in the scaffold accident. Fire officials described the scaffold accident injuries as minor and not life threatening.

Two police officers suffered scaffold accident injuries after they were hurt digging through the rubble, reported the New York Post.

According to The New York Times, a police spokesman said it appeared from preliminary accounts that during work on the elevator shaft in the building, bricks fell from building onto the scaffolding, knocking it down.

As reported, the scaffolding collapsed onto the back of the bus as it was about to pull away from a bus stop.

Apparently, people had complained about this construction site on September 7, but according to the Buildings Department, inspectors who visited the site found no violation was warranted at the time.

The city Department of Buildings is investigating the New York scaffold accident. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is also expected to investigate the demolition site accident.

According to a study by the United States Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 88 scaffold accidents deaths occurred in 2008.

"Workers, foremen, site managers and contractors must carefully conform to safety precautions. Accidents or injuries shouldn't be considered as part of the job," said New York scaffolding accident lawyer Perecman, founder of The Perecman Firm, one of New York's construction accident law firms.

If the causes of a construction equipment accident are avoidable, meaning that someone's negligence was the cause of the construction accident injury or death, a victim of the construction accident, or his or her family, can obtain financial compensation for the construction accident injuries or construction site death in New York.

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