The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) has extended the deadline by which many of the city’s construction workers will need to have at least 30 hours of safety training, and by which construction supervisors will need 62 hours of training.
The requirement was set to kick in on December 1, 2018; workers will now have until June 1, 2019 to complete this training.
These workers are already required to have a minimum of 10 hours of safety training and that remains unchanged. In addition, DOB will extend the law’s final deadline, by which workers will need 40 hours of training, from May 1, 2019 to September 1, 2020.
“In consultation with stakeholders in the construction industry … we are extending these deadlines to give city construction workers more time to get the training they need to stay safe on the job. Once the new June 2019 deadline kicks in, workers will be able to satisfy Local Law 196 requirements until late 2020 simply by completing an OSHA 30 training course,” said Buildings Commissioner Rick D. Chandler, PE.
Local Law 196 states that DOB can extend the training deadlines if the agency determines that there is insufficient capacity among training providers to accommodate construction workers.
DOB consulted the Site Safety Training Task Force composed of experts from organized labor and the construction industry. The Task Force agreed that the deadline change is necessary.
“The BTEA has been working side-by-side with the Department of Buildings since the passage of the bill to enhance clarity, and compliance, around the law. These changes will help us create a safer, better trained workforce” said Lou Coletti, BTEA President and CEO. “There are no shortcuts when it comes to safety and the BTEA will continue leading the industry forward.”
