Per a law Mayor Bill de Blasio signed last October, the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) has released safety training thresholds that apply to workers at sites that require construction superintendents, site safety coordinators or site safety managers.
As of Dec. 1, 2018, workers on these sites must have 30 hours of training and supervisors must log 62 hours of training (compared to 10 hours required as of March 2018). The deadline may be extended to June 1, 2019, if insufficient training capacity exists. By May 1, 2019, workers will be required to have 40 hours of safety training (with a possible deadline extension to Sept. 1, 2020).
Workers can satisfy the 40-hour training requirement in a variety of ways, including taking a 30-hour OSHA-approved safety course, plus eight hours of training on fall prevention and two hours of training on drug and alcohol awareness. Safety training course providers must be approved by the DOB.
According to Associated Builders and Contractors’ Empire State Chapter, the DOB’s safety curriculum is “not only appropriate and fair, but also accessible in the community.”
