Sixteen workers in New York and New Jersey died in the perilous conditions during and after Hurricane Sandy, federal officials revealed Tuesday.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which monitors job safety, said the workers fell off roofs, were struck by trees, drowned and suffered a variety of other calamities.
Two of the 16 died in New York City.
“It’s unfortunate that any worker had to lose their life in the aftermath of Sandy,” declared OSHA Regional Administrator Robert Kulick. “On a normal day or in the aftermath of a tragedy, we need to commit ourselves to making sure workers are safe.”
Kulick revealed the number of deaths during a ceremony at a Tribeca parking garage where worker Anthony Nahr drowned the night of the storm.
The Daily News revealed Sunday that OSHA found more than 3,100 instances of dangerous work conditions during the storm cleanup, but issued only 32 citations.
The News described the death of laborer Ignacio Maldonado, who fell from a ladder in Port Washington, L.I., on Nov. 21 and lay in a coma for a week. Maldonado’s death was one of the 16 revealed Tuesday by OSHA.
OSHA said four of the workers died during the storm, two by drowning and two who were struck by flying objects. The other 12 died in the weeks after the storm.
The New York City deaths included Nahr, the garage worker who drowned Oct. 29 seeking shelter from the deluge.
The other victim was Luis Guaman, 25, a laborer who fell through a skylight at Pier 42 in Manhattan, where the Federal Emergency Management Agency was storing storm supplies.
OSHA said Guaman was ending his shift Nov. 4 on the roof and fell to his death after unhooking his safety harness. An investigation is pending.
On Long Island, two laborers died while cutting down trees, while another fell off the roof of a church damaged by the storm.
In New Jersey, the owner of a restaurant was asphyxiated from carbon monoxide created by a generator he set up in a basement.
Another worker in New Jersey, who possibly was electrocuted, died after removing ductwork from a crawl space of a damaged home.
Congressman Jerrold Nadler(D-Manhattan/Brooklyn) said the deaths after Sandy suggest “we have not learned the lessons we should have learned after September 11.”
“We did not provide a safe environment for workers. We didn’t enforce OSHA laws. Thousands of people are sick, tens are dead,” said Nadler.
