01Who's covered.
Every construction worker on a New York job site is covered by workers' compensation — union or non-union, citizen or undocumented, hourly or salaried, day laborer or foreman. The categories I represent most frequently:
- Ironworkers (Local 40, Local 580, Local 361) — structural steel, ornamental, reinforcing
- Electricians (Local 3, Local 363, Local 1049) — wiring, conduit, lighting, low-voltage
- Carpenters (Local 157, Local 45) — framing, finish, formwork
- Operating engineers (Local 14, Local 15) — crane, excavator, derrick
- Laborers (Local 79, Local 78, Local 731) — demolition, excavation, masonry support
- Plumbers and steamfitters (Local 1, Local 638) — installation, service, mechanical
- Roofers, glaziers, painters, drywallers, masons
- Non-union day workers and subcontractors — including workers misclassified as independent contractors
Workers' comp is rarely the whole case.
If you fall from a height, are struck by a falling object, or are injured by violations of NY industrial code, you almost always have a parallel third-party case under Labor Law §240 or §241(6) that can recover damages workers' comp doesn't — pain and suffering, full lost wages, future earnings, full medical not capped to workers' comp rates. The comp claim and the third-party case need to be coordinated; otherwise the comp lien at the end of the third-party case can eat into your recovery in ways that are entirely avoidable with strategy.
02The Scaffold Law (Labor Law §240(1)).
New York's §240(1) — the Scaffold Law — imposes strict liability on owners and general contractors for elevation-related injuries on construction sites. "Strict liability" means the worker doesn't have to prove negligence. If the elevation hazard was unprotected and the worker was injured because of it, the owner and GC are liable. There's no comparative-fault defense (with narrow exceptions).
The classic §240 fact patterns:
- Falling from a scaffold, ladder, hoist, or other elevated work surface
- Being struck by an object falling from a height that wasn't properly secured
- Collapse of a structure, scaffold, hoist, or other elevation-related equipment
Scaffold Law cases regularly produce settlements and verdicts in the high six and seven figures. They are the single biggest reason an injured construction worker should not handle their case as comp-only.
03Labor Law §241(6) — industrial code violations.
§241(6) imposes liability on owners and contractors for injuries caused by violations of specific provisions of the Industrial Code (12 NYCRR Part 23). This isn't strict liability like §240 — comparative fault applies — but the threshold of proof is much lower than ordinary negligence: the worker just has to prove a code violation that proximately caused the injury.
Common §241(6) predicates:
- Tripping hazards — debris, openings, unsecured materials
- Inadequate lighting in work areas
- Improper use of saws, grinders, and power tools without required guards
- Unsafe use of welding and cutting equipment
- Failure to protect against falling objects below the level of a §240 case
04Common construction injuries.
- Falls — from heights (§240 territory) and same-level falls (§241(6) territory). Single most-common construction injury category.
- Struck-by injuries — falling tools, materials, equipment.
- Caught-between injuries — between equipment, between materials, in scaffolding collapse.
- Electrical injuries — particularly for electricians and laborers working near energized circuits.
- Equipment injuries — saws, nail guns, power tools, hand tools.
- Lifting and overuse injuries — back, shoulder, knee. Cumulative-trauma claims for tradespeople with long careers.
- Burns — from welding, cutting, electrical work, chemical exposure.
- Hearing loss — long-term exposure to construction noise.
- Respiratory and toxic-exposure — silica, asbestos, lead, mold, chemical fumes.
Estimate your SLU award — actual NY guideline math, shoulder & knee.
05Union construction workers — additional considerations.
Union construction workers in NYC have multiple overlapping benefit systems that interact with workers' comp:
- Welfare fund (medical) benefits — separate from comp, often providing supplemental coverage during the claim and reimbursable from comp where appropriate
- Pension and annuity — service credit during periods of disability is bargaining-unit-specific
- Disability supplement plans — many trades have negotiated wage replacement supplements above the WC benefit cap
- Hiring hall and bench rules — union members on the bench because of injury have specific rights to job referral once cleared, and disputes about clearance are common
The contractual benefits and the workers' comp claim should be coordinated, not treated as separate matters. Decisions made in one can affect the other.