On September 27th, the New York City Council unanimously passed legislation that requires new Site Safety Training (SST) requirements for ALL construction workers on job sites over four stories. The bill was signed by Mayor de Blasio on October 16th.
NYCSRA voiced serious concerns about the original version of this legislation and sought common sense changes. NYCSRA successfully sought a grandfather clause for workers who already completed their training, training for workers on all buildings under 14 stories, and the removal of a provision that would have led to a stop work order being issued if even one worker could not present their SST card.
The new law requires the following training be completed as shown below: Phase 1: March 1, 2018 All workers on job sites under 10 stories are required to complete at least one OSHA-10 course. Phase 2: December 1, 2018 All workers must complete an additional 20 hours of Site Safety Training (SST). This requirement can be fulfilled by completing an OSHA-30 hour course, or the worker may complete an OSHA-10 hour course plus 20 additional hours of SST, the details of which are to be specified by the Department of Buildings. Phase 3: May 1, 2019 All workers must complete an additional 10-25 hours of Site Safety Training (SST) to be determined by a Construction Safety Task Force. The Task Force will consist of 15 members including the Chair plus 7 members each chosen by the Mayor and the City Council Speaker. The Task Force will include members who represent (i) unions organizations, (ii) non-union organizations, (iii) certified minority-owned business enterprises or women-owned business enterprises, and (iv) day laborers. The Department of Buildings has discretion to postpone the deadlines should the Department determine there are an inadequate number of training providers or classes available that would require more time for workers to fulfill the training requirements. However, all training requirements must be completed no later than September 1, 2020 with no exceptions.