Twenty-two New York City-area groups including trade unions, the District Attorney's office and general contractor representatives, have asked the judge in a case concerning a construction worker’s death to impose the maximum penalty on the contractor.
Harco Construction was found guilty of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and reckless endangerment in the death of Carlos Moncayo. The 22-year-old worker died when an improperly shored-up excavation collapsed at one of the company's job sites.
The Manhattan district attorney is seeking a $35,000 fine and for Harco to pay for a worker safety print and TV campaign in English and Spanish. Representatives from an organization of New York union construction managers and contractors, the Building Trade Employers' Association, said they were "sick and tired" of lawbreaking construction companies "defining the public perception of how serious and important public and worker safety is to them," according to DNA Info.
Harco's attorneys had argued that the company could not be held accountable because they had no direct employees on the site other than a superintendent, and they could not fire the employees of the subcontractor responsible for the excavation, DNA Info reported.
Related Stories
| Mar 29, 2013
M+W Group acquires LifeTek Solutions in America
The global engineering and construction company M+W Group has announced that their operations in the Americas have acquired 100% ownership of LifeTek Solutions, Inc.
| Mar 29, 2013
PBS broadcast to highlight '10 Buildings That Changed America'
WTTW Chicago, in partnership with the Society of Architectural Historians, has produced "10 Builidngs That Changed America," a TV show set to air May 12 on PBS.
| Mar 29, 2013
Shenzhen projects halted as Chinese officials find substandard concrete
Construction on multiple projects in Guangdong Province—including the 660-m Ping'an Finance Center—has been halted after inspectors in Shenzhen, China, have found at least 15 local plants producing concrete with unprocessed sea sand, which undermines building stabity.
| Mar 27, 2013
Small but mighty: Berkeley public library’s net-zero gem
The Building Team for Berkeley, Calif.’s new 9,500-sf West Branch library aims to achieve net-zero—and possibly net-positive—energy performance with the help of clever passive design techniques.
| Mar 27, 2013
RSMeans cost comparisons: college labs, classrooms, residence halls, student unions
Construction market analysts from RSMeans offer construction costs per square foot for four building types across 25 metro markets.
| Mar 26, 2013
Will Google Glass revolutionize the construction process?
An Australian architect is exploring the benefits of augmented reality in the design and construction process.
| Mar 22, 2013
8 cool cultural projects in the works
A soaring opera center in Hong Kong and a multi-tower music center in Calgary are among the latest cultural projects.
| Mar 22, 2013
Earn $500 as a DOE proposal reviewer
The DOE'S Building Technologies Office this morning put out a call to the AEC industry for expert reviewers for its new energy-efficiency initiative for small commercial buildings, which make up more than 90% of the commercial building stock.