April 22, 2002—After nearly three million work hours, only 35 workers at the World Trade Center recovery site have suffered injuries that resulted in lost workdays, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced April 12, 2002. Of the 35 reported cases, none were life threatening.
“The Lost Workday Injury and Illness Rate (LWDII) rate at the World Trade Center is 2.3,” said OSHA Administrator John Henshaw. “While the work being done here is clearly unparalleled, the closest comparison is specialty construction, which includes demolition. The lost time injury and illness rate for specialty construction is 4.3.”
“Given the extraordinary circumstances involved, this rate reflects the tremendous effort of everyone involved—the workers, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater NY (BCTC), Building Trades Employer’s Association (BTEA), the City of New York and the federal government,” said Patricia K. Clark, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.
In addition to the partnership agreement OSHA signed in November 2001 with contractors, employees, employee representatives, and governmental agencies participating in the emergency response efforts in lower Manhattan, OSHA has entered into a new partnership with construction manager Bovis/Amec, BCTC, and BTEA in order to keep the injury and illness rate as low as possible.
