Scaffold Collapses and Injures Construction Worker

The plaintiff, a thirty-six-year-old male, was working on repairing windows damaged during Hurricane Sandy. During FEMA’s emergency response to mitigate the natural disaster, no one had attended to the windows. Because of the height of the damaged building, the construction company’s architect recommended scaffolding to repair the windows on the first eight floors. While the plaintiff attempted to repair the windows, however, the scaffolding collapsed. The plaintiff sustained a concussion, a broken ankle, and a broken arm.

Question(s) For Expert Witness

Are there specific requirements for ensuring the safety of scaffolds for construction workers?

What experience do you have working with scaffolds, supervising users of scaffolds, and ensuring the safe assembly of scaffolds?

Expert Witness Response E-000809

I am extremely familiar working with scaffolds, supervising users of scaffolds, and ensuring safe assembly of scaffolds. When I was the safety engineer for the building of the Williamsburg Bridge, we were constantly using a large number of scaffolds and we never had any problems with them falling apart or malfunctioning. In a case like this, the exact manner in which the scaffold was constructed, its usage, and any other conditions should be analyzed to discover what errors were committed.