New York NY April 28 2013
Special Report
By Erica Pearson AND Greg B. Smith / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
In the harrowing weeks after Hurricane Sandy, thousands of workers descended upon the destruction zone to safely clean up, tear down and rebuild homes wrecked by the storm.
But for some, the good deed turned into a nightmare of dangerous conditions that led to serious injuries and even death, a Daily News investigation has found.
At the height of the Sandy cleanup, workers without protection fell from roofs, were shocked by exposed wires and injured by chemicals, records show.
Federal inspectors patrolling flooded neighborhoods in New York City, New Jersey and Long Island encountered 3,100 instances of unsafe job conditions, removing some 7,900 workers from hazards, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show.
The records reveal a wide variety of safety issues, including contractors who blew off rules even after being caught and warned. One contractor even tried to bar OSHA inspectors from doing their job.
Although OSHA found thousands of cleanup workers doing jobs in unsafe conditions, almost no one was punished: OSHA issued violations in only 32 cases, imposing minimal fines between $1,000 and $11,600 that totaled just $141,934. In nearly every case, OSHA simply warned contractors to fix the problem and took no further action.
Gabino Hernandez, who spent weeks doing storm cleanup in damaged areas of Queens and Brooklyn, encountered contractors with little interest in safety but plenty of interest in getting the job done quickly.
One afternoon in the Rockaways in Queens, Hernandez counted 17 workers on a roof without fall protection. When he asked the boss about these dangerous conditions, “He thought it was a joke,” Hernandez said. “He said, ‘Don’t worry about it. These guys have 15 years of experience and nothing would happen to them. Don’t worry about it if someone falls. If he dies, he dies.’ ”
Feliciano Escalante, 28, cleaned out flooded Canarsie, Brooklyn, basements days after the storm, sloshing through polluted water in work boots without protective clothing. “It was risky because all of the water was mixed with stuff from the house,” he said, noting that pipes from upper floors had broken and flooded the basement with foul water mixed with fibers from insulation and asbestos.
“One worker got a skin rash from the water,” recalled Yadira Sanchez of the Workers Justice Project, which trains laborers on safety. “He was really afraid because he knew you could get sick.”
Hurricane Sandy is blamed for 135 deaths, but that does not include two fatalities OSHA tied to dangerous work conditions during the cleanup.
A day before Thanksgiving, Ignacio Maldonado, 54, leaned a ladder against a two-story beige ranch in suburban Port Washington, L.I., preparing to check out a storm-damaged chimney. A co-worker was supposed to hold the ladder, but he wasn’t around, so Maldonado — an unmarried Honduras native without children — climbed up anyway.
Suddenly, the home’s owner heard the ladder crash and a man scream, records show. The owner found Maldonado lying on the ground.
For a week, Maldonado lingered in a coma in North Shore University Hospital before dying Nov. 28 “as a result of the injuries sustained in the fall,” OSHA reported.
“Two people were supposed to be there, one holding the ladder steady — but he was working by himself,” Maldonado’s nephew Nelson told The News. “The guy who had been helping him was in the basement.”
Nelson Maldonado said he received papers indicating the ladder “was faulty,” and Port Washington police at the scene reported the rubber grip on one of the ladder’s legs was missing — a flaw that could have caused the ladder to slip.
At Maldonado’s employer, JFT Enterprises of Levittown, L.I., OSHA found the ladder in perfect condition. When they asked owner Fred Tarantino if he had repaired it, he replied, “No, why?”
Because Maldonado hadn’t died immediately, OSHA wasn’t told of the incident for a week, so they had to rely on photos and interviews because “the conditions on site no longer existed.” In January, OSHA fined JFT $4,000; the company is contesting the finding. JFT did not return calls
The same day Maldonado fell, a volunteer worker fell off the roof of a church in Eastport, L.I. Contacted by the local police, OSHA investigated but issued no citations, though it was clear the worker was not wearing required fall protection.
Records show worker injuries occurred almost from day one of the Sandy cleanup.
On Nov. 3, a PSE&G lineman repairing downed lines in Rutherford, N.J., got what investigators said was a “severe electric shock” when he touched a live wire.
The lineman was hospitalized, though PSE&G declined to discuss details of his condition or release his name. The utility insisted it “has an extensive safety program in which safety protocols are regularly reinforced with all personnel .”
Two days after that, the battery of a flooded Homeland Security Department truck that had soaked in salt water exploded on a repairman for Firematic Supply Co. in Yaphank, L.I. “The top of the battery blew off ... splashing (the worker) in the face and eyes with battery acid,” the OSHA report states.
The worker — identified only by his first name, Timothy — had no eye protection. He was flown by helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital and recovered, according to Firematic President Pete Hanratty. The company paid OSHA a $4,900 fine, but Hanratty said Firematic has a strong safety record and passed an OSHA inspection “100%” after the incident.
Three days later, a trench collapsed on an employee clearing dirt from a buried water tap in Hoboken, N.J. OSHA’s initial $2,000 fine was reduced to $1,500.
On Dec. 12, a laborer using a chain saw on trees outside a Long Island diner was seriously injured when the tree split midcut. The saw jumped and hit him in the head. No fine was imposed, though OSHA noted “no relief cut” was made in the tree to relieve pressure during the cut.
One Bergenfield, N.J., contractor was furious that OSHA would question them days after the storm hit.
Twice OSHA encountered contractors who ignored warnings about workers on roofs without fall protection.
Employees of Cajamarca Construction Corp. of Elizabeth, N.J., for instance, were caught two days in a row working without safety lines on the steep roof of a Staten Island church. Confronted by the feds, owner Edwin Cajamarca complained that “fall protection is a trip hazard.” He was fined $3,080, but OSHA settled for $1,694. Cajamarca hung up on The News.