Manhattan Construction Worker Injured in Fall Down Elevator Shaft

A worker was critically injured at a construction site in Manhattan on Wednesday after he lost his balance on a ladder and fell into an elevator shaft, plummeting four stories and landing on metal bars, the authorities said.

The worker, a 55-year-old man, was preparing to hang drywall on a ceiling at 34 West 17th Street when he fell, shortly after 8 a.m., the police said.

According to the police, the worker was impaled by three metal bars that protruded from the base of the shaft, piercing his torso, a leg and an arm. Cinder blocks also fell on him. The metal bars had to be cut so he could be taken to Bellevue Hospital Center, where he was listed in critical condition on Wednesday afternoon, the authorities said.

The New York City Buildings Department said on Wednesday that it had initiated an investigation. In a statement, the department said the man was not wearing safety equipment, such as a harness, at the time of the fall.

A full stop-work order was issued for the site, where a 10-story commercial building, near Avenue of the Americas, is being converted into condominiums.

The work was properly permitted, officials said. But the site was fined $1,000 for a violation in August that involved safeguarding the building’s elevator shafts, according to department records.

The contractor at the site, New Empire Builder Corporation, did not immediately return messages for comment on Wednesday.

The city is in the midst of a building boom, and there has been a surge in the number of deaths and injuries of construction workers, many of whom are undocumented laborers. But the rise in such cases has outpaced the rate of new construction, leading to concerns about a lack of training and adequate safety measures.

Source: New York Times