Staten Island Construction Worker Critically Injured as Construction Safety Week Kicks Off

By Aaron Poehler

Published on April 29, 2008

Mario Pais, 48, of Linden, New Jersey, was listed in critical condition at Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton with multiple internal injuries. He is expected to undergo emergency surgery today.

The 30,000 pound loader involved in the incident is registered to Pleasantville, New York-based Halcyon Construction Corporation, which is currently engaged in a two-year project to replace cast-iron pipes in the Staten Island water system.

The incident is currently under investigation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Accident Investigation Squad of the Staten Island Highway Patrol.

The accident occurred about 9:30 p.m. EDT yesterday evening, on a day when thousands of New York City union laborers and contractors mourned the loss of 13 construction workers so far this year — including six workers killed in the deadly crane collapse of March 15 — during a special mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in midtown Manhattan.

Monday also marked the beginning of the city’s Construction Safety Week 2008, an annual five-day event featuring construction safety-related events and seminars throughout the city. Planned Construction Safety Week events include seminars on new crane safety regulations, scaffold safety, urban demolitions, and legalizing illegal conversions.