NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS EXTENDS DEADLINES FOR SAFETY TRAINING

The saga of the implementation of New York City’s Local Law 196, which mandated additional safety training for those working in construction, took another turn earlier this month.

In a presentation at the BTEA’s recent Safety Conference, Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler announced that his department was extending the deadline by which all workers must complete 30 hours of construction safety training form December 1, 2018, to June 1, 2019.

According to the Department of Buildings November, 2018 Service Update, supervisors will be required to have 62 hours of safety training by the June 1 deadline and workers must take an additional 10 hours of safety training (for a total of 40 hours) by September 1, 2020.  Workers will be able to meet this requirement by completing a 30 hour OSHA training class; a 10 hour OSHA safety training class with 20 hours of additional training in areas such as fall protection, site safety manager refresher, and 4 hours of scaffold training; a DOB-approved 100 hour training course; or applying prior experience plus four hours of additional training for both fall prevention and scaffold training.

In addition, the Buildings Department has now provided a consistent definition of “competent person” which will now more clearly delineate those who will be required to have the supervisor training under Local Law 196.  The Department also issued a standard training curriculum for apprenticeship programs designated certified training programs.

The Buildings Department provided no specific reason for the delay in its service update but it appears that the demand for training exceeded the capacity of current training providers.

The STA will continue to monitor the implementation of this safety training law and we will keep our members updated as future events warrant.

A copy of the Department of Buildings November, 2018 Service Update addressing the changes summarized above, can be obtained by clicking here.