A View From the Field: Local Law 196

A View from the Field: Local Law 196

Guidelines for ensuring your company complies with NYC’s new mandate on
demolition and construction safety training

by Denise Groneman, Executive Vice President, Certified Site Safety of NY, LLC

Effective March 1, 2018, Local Law 196 mandates safety training for all demolition and construction workers employed within the five boroughs on projects requiring a construction superintendent, site safety manager, site safety coordinator, concrete safety manager or competent person. Ultimately, all workers will be required to complete a minimum of 40 hours of safety-related training and obtain a Site Safety Training (SST) card to be eligible to work on construction sites in NYC. Here is a brief overview of what you should know about the new law.

The Impact on You and Your Employees

All construction workers on sites requiring a site safety plan must have completed OSHA training by March 1, 2018. On or before this date, workers are required to have completed, at a minimum, the 10-hour OSHA course. Permit holders will also be required to maintain, and produce upon request, a log at the construction site that identifies each worker and includes proof that the worker completed the required site safety training.

By December 1, 2018, workers will need to complete an additional 20 hours of additional training. The DOB recommends that workers opt to take the 30-hour course, as this will ensure they have completed the requirements for the first two phases of the new law and would not have to complete additional training until 2019. Supervisors, including those mentioned above, will be required to complete a 30-hour OSHA course by December 1, 2018.

Timeline for Compliance

By March 1, 2018, all demolition and construction workers must complete one of the following: OSHA 10; or OSHA 30; or a DOB-approved 100-Hour training program.

On or by December 1, 2018, all workers must have either an SST card, a limited SST card or a temporary SST card. Additionally, every construction superintendent, site safety manager, site safety coordinator, concrete safety manager or competent person must have an SST Supervisor card. On or before May 1, 2019, all workers must have a limited SST or SST card.

What Are the Requirements to Obtain An SST Card?

Temporary SST Card—For new demolition or construction workers who have completed the 10-Hour OSHA. The card is valid for a 6-month period and is not renewable.
Limited SST Card—For those already working in the industry who have completed:

10-hour OSHA, plus 20 additional SST credits including at least 8 hours of “safeguarding” against the dangers posed by falling workers and objects” or
30-hour OSHA Course or
100-hour training program (such as approved apprenticeship)

*The limited card expires and is not renewable.

SST Card—For workers who have fully satisfied one of the following:

10-hour OSHA, plus 30-45 to-be-determined additional SST hours*
30-hour OSHA, plus 10-25 to-be-determined additional SST hours*
If the 10-hr OSHA or the 30-hr OSHA has not been completed, a 100-hour training program must be.

*SST hours must include at least 8 hours of “safeguarding against the dangers posed by falling workers and objects.” Valid for a 5-year period and will require 8 hours of SST training to renew.

SST Supervisor Card—For construction superintendents, site safety managers, site safety coordinators, concrete safety managers or competent person. Requirements:

SST Card and
30-hour OSHA

*Valid for a 5-year period and will require 16 hours of SST training to renew.

Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements for Permit Holders

Local Law 196 establishes recordkeeping and reporting mandates on every permit holder for a covered building site. By March 1, 2018, each permit holder must comply with the “recordkeeping mandate” by doing the following:

Certify that each worker at the job site has complied with the following mandates: interim worker safety training, final work safety training and/or superintendent training.
Maintain a daily log at each job site that identifies each worker and includes a copy of his or her respective OSHA safety training card.

Upon request by NYC DOB, provide the safety training log for inspection. It is imperative that the permit holder for every covered building site strictly complies with the recordkeeping mandate. Even if everyone working at the covered building site has complied with the training mandates, a permit holder found to be lacking proper logs for a given work day is presumed to be noncompliant.

Consequences for Non-Compliance

Denial of DOB Permits—Going forward, NYC DOB will make granting permits for construction and demolition work conditional on the permit applicant’s compliance with Local Law 196. If the applicant for construction or demolition work does not certify that all of the workers will be compliant with the Local Law 196 construction safety training mandates, DOB will deny permits.

Violations for Workers’ Failure to Complete Safety Training

If the NYC DOB Commissioner determines “that a worker at a building site is not in compliance” with any of the new training mandates, the Commissioner will issue a notice of violation to the permit holder, the non-compliant worker’s employer (if different from the permit holder), and the job site owner. Even if they are separate entities, DOB can charge the permit holder, employer, and owner with separate violations and issue separate civil penalties.

In the event that DOB determines that a permit holder is in violation of Local Law 196, the permit holder will have to pay for the costs of the worker to obtain the required safety training or “otherwise arrange” for the worker to receive the safety training—at no cost to the non-compliant worker. The non-compliant worker will have to remain employed at the building site under the same terms and conditions and must be paid as though he or she were working at the job site 40 hours each week at the same wage.

Violations for Failure to Maintain The Daily Compliance Log

If a permit holder at a covered building site has not maintained a daily log recording the names of each worker at the site and each worker’s respective safety training cards, that is a violation of Local Law 196. If DOB determines that a permit holder failed to maintain a log, it establishes a rebuttable presumption that each worker for whom the permit holder is responsible for ensuring compliance “is not compliant,” and it will result in notices of violation for each unrecorded day worked by each worker.

Note: If you are the permit holder for a covered building site, you are responsible for not only your own employees but also for the compliance of your subcontractors as well. Do not expose yourself to risk by hiring subcontractors whom you know are lacking their OSHA cards.

Denise Groneman is Executive Vice President at Certified Site Safety of NY LLC (CSS), a Woman Business Enterprise (WBE) and a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) that provides risk management, OSHA and NYC DOB safety training, safety plan and program design, safety audit inspections and construction support services throughout the five boroughs of NYC, Westchester County and the surrounding area.

If you have specific questions about Local Law 196 or CSS training, email inquiries to training@CertifiedSiteSafety.com

November 19, 2018