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New York workplace injury Laws are complicated.
The legislature has periodically considered a change, from strict to comparative liability, where reimbursements would reflect the worker’s own relative fault for the accident – but no bill has passed.
Here’s where we currently stand on NY workplace injury laws:
Does an employer or property owner have strict liability under NY workplace law and if so what does that mean?
A property owner and the building owner under New York labor law 240 has strict liability and what that means is they’re strictly held liable to the worker who is injured on the construction site as well as their family.
The Labor Laws are strict liability laws, meaning an injured worker only needs to prove that the injury was caused on the construction job, in a specific way (e.g., something fell on him).
Video: Workplace injury lawyer in New York
What is Labor Law 241 or the safe place to work law?
Labor law 241 is a statute that applies to many different types of accidents at work sites. It doesn’t apply to accidents from heights or gravity-related accidents because that’s covered by labor law section 240. If you trip and fall over debris on the ground or other kinds of accidents that’s going to be governed by labor law 241.
This labor law 241 is pretty powerful. One of the main benefits of that statute is it holds the building owner and general contractor liable to you.
You should be aware going in that it does have a comparative negligence standard so the defendants are going try to show that you are negligent in some way at the time the accident occurred.
The purpose of Labor Law 241 is to protect workers from slip/falls and other hazards at ground level
Compared to Section 240: similar, but focuses on the safety of a construction site at ground-level.
Coverage:
- Specific provisions for construction, demolition, and excavation on worksites
- Mandates actions and safety equipment for buildings during construction or before demolition
Requirements:
- Thick planking for elevator shaftways, hatchways and stairwells across the opening
Application:
- Strict liability
- All site owners, except for owners of one- or two-family homes (and those that do not control the work of any employees).
It’s basically like common law negligence in New York where you show that the other party was negligent and they try to show that you were comparatively at fault but on the labor law 241 in New York state the owner of the building is liable along with the general contractor and other contractors in the chain other than your employer.
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