Important Scaffold Law U.S. & Benefit Cheat

Liverpool, UK: Father and son cleaning team swindled £42,000. A FATHER and son team were caught doing the rounds as window cleaners while swindling more than £42,000 in disability benefits. Undercover officers watched for five months as William Bridges and his son, Mark, lugged around heavy ladders, scrambled up walls and scrubbed windows. Investigations revealed Bridges snr had been running the business in the Haydock area of Park Street for nearly five years and recruited his son to help out. But, the whole time the 59-year-old was claiming thousands in benefits, pretending he was severely disabled, and needed help with his personal care. The fraudster, of Station Road, Haydock, insisted he could only walk a few feet without being in serious pain. But Liverpool Crown Court heard it was not the first time he had conned the system. In 2005, magistrates spared him prison for failing to declare a £3,000 pension pot and falsely claiming more than £10,000 after he “hobbled into court with a walking stick”. His barrister, Sean Joyce, persuaded the court to be lenient, insisting he relied on benefits. Bridges snr was jailed for eight months after he admitted swindling more than £28,500 in income support and disability living allowance. Judge Charles James said: “Whilst maintaining you were unable to work, you were running your own business window cleaning – something involving a great deal of physical activity.” He added: “This is an extremely unattractive tale – someone of your age should have appreciated what you were you doing and instead you were leading your son into this dishonesty activity.”

New York Personal Injury Law Firm Explains Three Things Building Owners Must Know About the New York "Scaffold Law." A recent New York Court of Appeals decision rejected a building owner's defense that he didn't know a tenant had contracted work and was not liable for a worker's injury. As a result of this ruling, under Labor Law Section 240, building owners will be held liable for any accidents occurring to workers when performing work at an elevated height. Partner in the New York personal injury law firm Gersowitz, Libo & Korek and New York Trial Lawyers Association President Jeff S. Korek explains three things a building owner must know.
New York, NY (PRWEB) July 8, 2008 -- According to a decision recently handed down by the New York Court of Appeals (Sanatass et al., v Consolidated Investing Company, Inc. et. al., ), building owners will be held liable for any accidents, whether or not they authorized that construction, whether or not a tenant violated the lease in doing so. One law that addresses construction site safety is Labor Law Section 240. Also known as the "scaffold law," it is imperative that building owners know it well. "No longer can a building owner plead ignorance when work is being done at an elevated height on his or her property," says Jeff Korek, Partner in the New York personal injury law firm Gersowitz, Libo & Korek and New York Trial Lawyers Association President. "So building owners need to better understand this law, especially three key points."

Point #1: Building owners are legally liable. Building owners are legally liable for accidents that occur at elevated heights during construction or renovation, whether or not the building owner was aware of that work. This applies both to having equipment that is well-constructed and that is equipped with safety features, such as a safety bar, guard rail or net.
Point #2: Scaffold Law applies to window washing, too. In Brogg v Rockefeller Group, Inc. , the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the "scaffold law" applies to acts such as window washing, because work is done at an elevated height. So building owners are also legally liable for accidents occurring at elevated heights during routine maintenance and cleaning, whether or not the maintenance occurred in conjunction with construction.
Point #3: Safety first: workers protected. For years New York has been one of the states with the fewest number of yearly construction accidents. Since owners and contractors historically have tried to chip away at laws making them responsible for a laborer's on-the-job injury, the Appeals Court's recent decision further strengthens the "scaffold law."

Quebec worker killed; two others injured: LEVIS, Que. - One Quebec worker is dead and two others are injured after their scaffolding touched some power lines Monday near Quebec City.
A police spokesman said the men apparently did not see the wires as they were moving from one apartment block to another while repairing balconies. Police said one man was pushing the scaffolding, the other was pulling it and that a third man came to help them. The accident occurred in Levis, across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City. The two injured men were taken to hospital in Levis before being transferred to Quebec City. The province's workers' health and safety board is investigating.