NYC Construction Workers Have Until March to Meet Local Law 196 Requirements

Construction workers in New York City, including glazing contractors, who work on Site Safety Training (SST) construction sites, have until March 1, 2021 to meet the 40 hours of safety training mandated by Local Law 196 of 2017. Workers also must have an SST card proving they have met the training requirements. The cards are valid for five years.

Workers at jobsites that require a site safety plan or are required to designate a construction superintendent, site safety coordinator or site safety manager must undergo the required training hours. Supervisors, including site safety managers, site safety coordinators, concrete safety managers, construction superintendents and competent persons at these sites must meet 62 hours of required training.

If the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) finds that workers at an SST site are untrained, it will issue a violation to the site owner, permit holder and employer of the untrained worker with civil penalties that go as high as $5,000 per untrained worker. If the DOB discovers that a permit holder has failed to maintain a log demonstrating that all site workers are trained, it will issue a violation with a civil penalty of $2,500.

Required training can be obtained through DOB-approved course providers and/or Occupational Safety and Health Administration classes. Training is available both online and in person.

SST Cards

myComply has been selected by the DOB to build and administer the software behind a construction safety database. It also will facilitate the city’s SST card rollout. The two entities have outlined a plan to ensure all worker certifications and training can be verified on jobsites and accessed on demand by DOB enforcement personnel. myComply uses mobile technology and cloud-based software to manage and verify safety certifications and training requirements centrally. This centralized management enables the DOB to obtain industry safety information, ensuring that permit holders on New York City jobsites are prioritizing safe workplace practices.