Dive Brief:
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A woman who died in New York last week after an airborne board that detached from a construction barrier slammed into her was the first pedestrian killed in the past five years by falling debris from a New York City job site. But 59 people—not including construction workers—have been hit by falling or flying construction-site objects, according to New York Post analysis of data from the city’s Building Department.
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Twenty-seven of those accidents occurred between January and September 2014, the report said. Sixteen people were injured in those accidents.
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Among them were two people hurt during that time by falling glass, two pedestrians splashed with concrete, and a driver injured when a plank dropped from a building’s roof and struck four cars.
Dive Insight:
About three months ago, the city amended its construction code to require that fencing around job sites be able to withstand 98-mph winds—or 80-mph gusts if the company could convince code officials the higher standard was unnecessary in a specific area. Winds were not blowing at 80 mph on March 17, the day the pedestrian was struck and killed.
The fence had been built under the 2008 code, which did not address wind speed, according to Crains New York.
