Final Phase of New York City Training Requirements for Construction Workers Arrives on March 1, 2021.

On August 27, 2020, New York City's (NYC) Council amended the administrative code of the City of New York in relation to the definition of site safety training full compliance date.  This amendment 2059-2020 goes into effect immediately and extends the compliance date to March 1, 2021.  New York City Buildings posted the following notification.  

In 2017, New York City's (NYC) Council amended the administrative code of the City of New York and the NYC building code, in relation to construction site safety training.  This amendment is called Local Law 196 of 2017 (formerly known as Intro. 1447).  It amends the administrative code by adding section 22-509 Construction site safety training courses.  Requiring the Mayor to establish by March 1, 2018, a program to provide equal access to construction site safety training.  This law has several deadlines and was established to make sure that construction workers in New York City all had a minimum amount of training.  This law has been updated and delayed twice, so far (click here for the FAQ on the regulation).

Properly capped rebar

The first deadline has passed already, beginning March 1, 2018, each permit holder at a building site for which a construction superintendent, site safety manager, or site safety coordinator is required shall ensure that each construction or demolition worker employed or otherwise engaged at such site by the permit holder or performing subcontracted work for or on behalf of such permit holder shall have successfully completed:

• an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10-hour class;
• an OSHA 30-hour class; or
• a 100-hour training program.

We are currently passed the second deadline of December 1, 2019.  Permit holders shall ensure each worker has an OSHA 30-hour card, SST card, a limited SST card or a temporary SST card and each worker who is serving as a site safety manager, site safety coordinator, concrete safety manager, construction superintendent or a competent person at such site shall have an SST supervisor card.

Recent OSHA 30-hour Construction Safety Course

If you are wondering what an SST card, a limited SST card, a temporary SST card, or an SST supervisor card is, well you are not the only one!  First, a Site Safety Training card (SST card) SST card, a limited SST card, a temporary SST card, or an SST supervisor card are cards that are issued by a New York City Department of Buildings Approved Training Provider (which at the time of my writing this, there are 102 training providers approved).

To get a limited SST card (which expires August 31, 2020) you must have taken one of the following training paths:

1. OSHA 10-hour class with 20-hours of additional training:
• OSHA 10-hour
• 8-hour Fall Prevention
• 8-hour Chapter 33 (Site Safety Manager Refresher) or 4-hour General Electives and 4-hour Specialized Electives
• 4-hour Supported Scaffold User and refresher
2. OSHA 30-hour class
3. 100-Hour Training Program Approved by the Building Department
4. Prior Experience
• 4-hour Fall Prevention
• 4-hour Supported Scaffold User

To get a temporary SST card (which expires after 6 months during which time training must be completed to receive a Limited SST card or SST card) you must have taken an OSHA 10-hour class.

To get an SST card (which expires after 5 years) you must have taken one of the following training paths, this card will be required by September 1, 2020 (unless the NYC Council pushes this deadline back):

1. OSHA 10-hour class with 30-hours of additional training:
• OSHA 10-hour class
• 8-hour Fall Prevention
• 8-hour Chapter 33 (Site Safety Manager Refresher)
• 4-hour Supported Scaffold User
• 4-hour General Electives
• 4-hour Specialized Electives
• 2-hour Drug and Alcohol Awareness
2. OSHA 30-hour Class with 10-hours of additional training:
• OSHA 30-hour class
• 8-hour Fall Prevention
• 2-Hour Drug and Alcohol Awareness
3. 100-hour Training Program Approved by the Building Department
4. Prior Experience
• 4-hour Fall Prevention
• 4-hour Supported Scaffold User

To get a Supervisor SST card (which expires after 5 years) you must have taken:

• OSHA 30-hour class
• 8-hour fall prevention
• 8-hour Chapter 33 (Site Safety Manager Refresher)
• 4-hour Supported Scaffold User
• 2-hour Site Safety Plan
• 2-hour Tool Box Talks
• 2-hour Pre-task Safety Meetings
• 2-hour General Electives
• 2-hour Specialized Electives
• 2-hour Drug and Alcohol Awareness

So that's how you get the various cards required under this local law.  The law doesn't end there.  The next compliance date is September 1, 2020.  By that date, all workers must have an SST card to work on most construction projects.

By the full compliance date, SST Cards & Supervisor SST cards will be required on most construction sites

Since SST Cards and Supervisor SST cards expire after 5 years, applicants must have completed training to renew the cards in the one-year period preceding renewal of the card (in other words if the card expires in September 2025, in the year from September 2024 to September 2025 you need to complete the training discussed below):

1. SST Card (8 Hours)
• 4-hour Fall Prevention
• 4-hour Supported Scaffold User
2. Supervisor SST card (16 hours)
• 8-hour Fall Prevention
• 4-hour Supported Scaffold User
• 2-hour Tool Box Talks
• 2-hour Pre-Task Safety Meetings

Local Law 196 of 2017 obviously, creates a minimum training requirement for workers on most construction projects, to visit the NYC Site Safety Training website click here.  Permit holders are required to maintain a daily log that identifies each worker and that includes, for each worker a copy of SST card, a limited SST card, a temporary SST card, or an SST supervisor card or proof of taking an OSHA 10-hour; OSHA 30-hour; or 100-hour training program.  Violations of this law will result in a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per untrained worker to be issued to the owner of the site, the permit holder, and the employer of the untrained worker (this could mean up to a $15,000 fine, based on contract language, to the employer of the untrained worker).  Failing to maintain the log will result in a civil penalty of $2,500.  The gradual phase-in, the list of General and Specialized Elective courses, and the recent release of what it will take to become an approved training provider all seem to imply that the later dates may be the actual dates of implementation.  As we see now.

Related Articles:

• Local Law 196 of 2017 Deadlines Extended.
• The Impact of New York City’s New Mandatory Construction Site Safety Training Requirements Under Local Law 196

Local Law 196 of 2017 Deadlines Extended.

On November 8, 2018, New York City Department of Buildings tweeted about extending the deadlines for construction training under Local Law 196 of 2017.  Click here to see the tweet.  This pushes back the training requirements deadline from December 1, 2018, to June 1, 2019.  Currently, to work on most construction projects all that is required is an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10-hour construction safety course card.  This requirement will continue to be required until June 1, 2019.

After June 1, 2019, construction workers will be required to have 30-hours of training either by taking an OSHA 30-hour construction safety course or by getting 20 additional training hours over the OSHA 10-hour construction safety course.  Those 20 additional training hours must consist of an 8-hour fall protection course, a 4-hour scaffold user course, and an 8-hour site safety manager refresher course.

The next deadline has also been extended to September 1, 2020.  That deadline will require individuals taking the OSHA 10-hour construction safety course to take 30 additional hours of training or those individuals taking the OSHA 30-hour construction safety course to take 10 additional training hours.  For more information click here for the NYC Buildings Department November 2018 Service Update explaining these changes and requirements.

Related Articles:

• New York City Adds Training Requirements for Construction Workers
• The Impact of New York City’s New Mandatory Construction Site Safety Training Requirements Under Local Law 196

NYC DEP Revisions to Title 15 - Asbestos Regulations, Part 1

The Autumn issue of Future Focus is now posted on our website. In Part 1 we cover the revisions in the permitting process for the NYC Department of Buildings, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, and NYC Fire Department. Most of these changes and revisions attributable to the Deutsche Bank Fire. Click on the title of this post and it will take you to Future Environment Designs newsletter page.

NYC Deadline Approaching Regarding OSHA Training Requirement

Starting July 1, 2009, all workers at major building projects in New York City are required to complete a 10-hour course in construction industry safety and health approved by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Local Law 41 of 2008 requires the site safety plans of major buildings must include a statement that all workers have completed this course.

Mayor Bloomberg Announces Changes To NYCDEP's Asbestos Enforcement

On July 16, 2008 Mayor Bloomberg announced changes that will impact how New York City Department of Environmental Potection (DEP), Department of Buildings (DOB), and Fire Department (FDNY) handle and coordinate construction, demolition, & abatement operations. Due to the death of two firefighters at the fire at 130 Liberty Street, New York City did a review of agency operations. That review resulted in a report called "Strengthening the Safety, Oversight, and Coordination of Construction, Demolition, and Abatement Operations." This report made 33 specific recommendations designed to strengthen each agencies' inspection practices, increase notifications and data sharing between agencies and improve the safety of abatement and demolition operations. Of the 33 recommendations, 4 addressed inspection processes, 12 adressed abatement operations, and 1 addressed demolition inspections at the DEP. The recommendations for the NYCDEP are:

Inspection Processes at DEP, DOB & FDNY:

• DOB, FDNY, and DEP should review their inspection criteria and make changes to ensure that, to the extent possible, inspections are prioritized on the basis of risk.
• DOB, FDNY, and DEP should create common safety protocols incorporating high-priority safety issues within the inspection capacity of all three agencies, and should cross-train inspectors to address these common safety issues.
• DOB, FDNY, and DEP should implement a system to share relevant results of inspections of buildings that meet agreed-upon criteria. As part of this effort, FDNY should develop a computer-based process to share inspection data internally and with DOB and DEP.
• DOB, FDNY, and DEP should review their inspection programs to ensure that they have sufficiently robust quality assurance controls in place.

Abatement Operations:

• DEP should regularly notify FDNY and DOB about large and/or complex abatement jobs that meet thresholds to be determined by DEP, FDNY, and DOB.
• DEP should establish a permit requirement for certain large and/or complex abatement jobs based on thresholds to be determined by DEP, DOB, and FDNY.
• DEP should require building owners and/or air monitors on abatement jobs to notify DEP when abatement work at a particular site is complete.
• DEP should promulgate clear guidance to contractors about how to maintain proper egress at abatement sites and enforce this requirement in the field.
• DEP should require that egress conditions be recorded daily in the abatement contractor's logbook and kept on site.
• DEP should require that all materials used in construction of temporary enclosures for abatement work be non-combustible or flame-resistant.
• DEP should require the installation of a central negative air "cut-off switch" or similar mechanism at abatement jobs that meet thresholds to be established by DEP, FDNY, DOB.
• DEP should develop written protocols, such as checklist or other guidance, to ensure that its inspections are comprehensive and consistent at all abatement jobs.
• DEP inspectors should be trained to inspect and address egress and other safety requirements at abatement sites.
• DEP should have the authority to enforce provisions of the Fire and Building Codes at abatement sites, including issuing Notices of Violation and other penalties.
• DOB should make permanent its capacity to have inspectors and other personnel respond to abatement sites-based on criteria to be established by DOB, DEP, and FDNY-to augment DEP and FDNY inspections at a particular site. DOB inspectors and other responders must have proper training and personal protective equipment to do this job.
• DEP should formally establish a policy that strictly limits simultaneous abatement and demolition work, and requires a variance-including review by DOB and FDNY-to undertake it.

Demolition Inspections:

• DOB, DEP, and FDNY should update their websites and publications to provide comprehensive and coordinated guidance about the construction, demolition and abatement processes, including how to file for and conduct these operations safely, and the regulatory schemes that are triggered by these operations.