New York warning raises stakes on electrical safety at construction sites

Electricity killed 130 U.S. workers in 2024, and a New York construction law firm is warning contractors that state rules treat nearby power lines as live until the utility says otherwise. The advisory matters because a missed notice or unsafe assumption can trigger liability when workers are hurt or killed on the job.

Why it matters: - Electricity remains one of the deadliest hazards in construction and excavation work. - New York’s rules create a higher bar than federal standards by presuming nearby power lines are energized until the line owner confirms otherwise. - A contractor’s failure to follow the notice and protection rules can become a liability issue under New York Labor Law.

What happened: - The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 130 worker deaths from electrical exposure in 2024, down from 142 in 2023. - Construction and extraction jobs accounted for 1,032 of the 5,070 fatal work injuries recorded nationwide in 2024. - Gorayeb & Associates, P.C. issued an advisory for injured workers and contractors on New York electrical hazard rules. - Christopher J. Gorayeb, founding partner of the New York construction accident firm, said workers are often told a panel or line was dead when it was not.

The details: - OSHA identifies electrocution as one of the four hazards behind most construction deaths. - Federal wiring and work-practice rules for construction sit in Subpart K of the OSHA standards. - New York Industrial Code Rule 23 requires every power line and power facility near a construction, demolition or excavation site to be treated as energized until qualified representatives of the line owner say otherwise. - Employers must determine voltage levels before work begins. - If the exact location of an underground line is unknown, workers using jack hammers, bars or similar hand tools must be given insulated gloves, body aprons and footwear. - Employers must notify the affected utility in writing at least five normal working days before work begins within 10 feet of a live overhead line. - The same five-day written notice is required before excavation that might disturb a live underground line. - If a person or piece of equipment must come within 10 feet of an energized high-voltage line, defined as a circuit over 300 volts to ground, the line owner has one normal working day to give procedure guidance. - The employer must follow the line owner’s procedure. - Section 241(6) of the New York Labor Law imposes liability on owners and contractors when a specific Industrial Code provision is violated and causes injury. - Courts treat that duty as nondelegable. - The Department of Buildings documented a July 2025 Manhattan case in which a worker opening an HVAC condenser panel on an 18-story roof took a flash to the face and fell backward. - Inspectors found the unit still carried current. - A separate 2025 fatality involved a worker severely burned while welding at an unpermitted renovation.

Between the lines: - New York’s presumption that power lines are live shifts the burden to contractors and owners to verify safety before work starts. - The written-notice requirement matters because missing paperwork can become proof that the safety step never happened. - Gorayeb said arc injuries can look minor at first, while nerve damage can appear weeks later. - The advisory is also a reminder that electrical incidents can escalate from a near miss to a fatality when site controls are weak.

What’s next: - Contractors working near overhead or underground lines will need to document utility notice, voltage checks and protective equipment decisions before starting work. - Injured workers may need same-day medical care and burn documentation to preserve evidence, Gorayeb said. - New York construction cases involving electrical contact are likely to keep turning on whether the employer followed Rule 23 and whether the utility was properly notified.

The bottom line: - In New York, a line is presumed live until proven otherwise, and that assumption can decide both worker safety and legal exposure.