New York Labor Law § 240(1), often called the Scaffold Law, requires certain owners, contractors, and their agents to provide proper safety devices for workers performing specified types of work involving elevation-related risks. The statute is powerful, but a fall does not automatically create liability: the work and defendant must fall within the statute, there must be a statutory violation, and that violation must be a proximate cause of the injury.
Key Takeaways
- Labor Law § 240(1) applies to specified work such as erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning, and pointing of a building or structure.
- The statute addresses gravity-related risks requiring protective devices such as scaffolds, ladders, hoists, ropes, and other safety devices.
- Owners, contractors, and qualifying agents can face a nondelegable statutory duty, subject to statutory exceptions and case-specific defendant status.
- A worker must still prove a statutory violation and proximate cause; the accident itself is not enough.
- A sole-proximate-cause defense can defeat a § 240(1) claim when the facts satisfy the legal standard.
In This Guide
What Does Labor Law § 240(1) Require?
Labor Law § 240(1) requires covered owners, contractors, and their agents to furnish or erect safety devices—such as scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders, slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, braces, irons, ropes, and other devices—so they are constructed, placed, and operated to give proper protection to a person performing the work described in the statute.
The core question is not simply whether a worker fell. It is whether the injury resulted from the kind of elevation-related hazard the statute addresses and whether the protection provided was inadequate under the circumstances.
Which Types of Work Are Covered?
The text of § 240(1) identifies work involving the erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning, or pointing of a building or structure. Coverage often turns on what the worker was actually doing when the accident occurred, not merely the worker’s job title or employer.
Routine maintenance can fall outside the statute in circumstances where the task does not qualify as one of the protected activities. That makes the exact task, project purpose, and relationship to the building or structure important. Our companion guide addresses who is protected by Labor Law § 240.
What Counts as an Elevation-Related Risk?
The New York Court of Appeals has emphasized that § 240(1) protects against specific gravity-related risks rather than every hazard that happens to exist at a construction site. In Runner v. New York Stock Exchange, Inc., the Court focused on whether the injury was the direct consequence of a failure to provide adequate protection against a risk arising from a physically significant elevation differential.
That can include a worker falling from an elevation or, in appropriate circumstances, an object falling or moving because of gravity where a safety device of the kind contemplated by the statute was required. The analysis is fact-specific; not every falling object or height difference qualifies.
A ladder fall is not enough by itself. Preserve the facts
Task, device, defendant status, available protection, and the exact cause of the accident all matter under § 240. Those facts are easier to investigate before the site changes.
Does Every Ladder or Scaffold Fall Create Liability?
No. In Blake v. Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, the Court of Appeals explained that an accident alone does not establish a Labor Law § 240(1) violation. A plaintiff must establish a statutory violation and that the violation was a proximate cause of the injury.
The condition and placement of the device, whether adequate protection was available, the worker’s instructions, and how the accident happened all matter. Evidence such as photographs, the ladder or scaffold itself, site records, witness accounts, and safety documentation can be critical.
Who Can Be Liable Under § 240?
The statute expressly refers to owners, contractors, and their agents. Determining whether an entity qualifies can require review of ownership documents, contracts, authority over the work, and the project structure. The statute also includes an exception for owners of one- and two-family dwellings who contract for but do not direct or control the work.
Do not assume that every company present on the site is a proper § 240 defendant. A responsibility map should identify the property owner, general contractor, construction manager, subcontractors, and any entity alleged to be an agent. See who can be liable for a construction-site accident.
What Is the Sole Proximate Cause Defense?
New York courts recognize that § 240(1) liability does not attach when the worker’s conduct is the sole proximate cause of the accident. Cases such as Robinson v. East Medical Center, LP discuss circumstances in which adequate safety devices were available but were not used or were misused.
This is different from ordinary comparative negligence. Once a statutory violation that proximately caused the injury is established, ordinary contributory negligence does not operate in the same way as it does in a standard negligence claim. The dispute often becomes whether there was a violation at all and whether the worker’s conduct was truly the only legal cause.
How Does § 240 Differ From Labor Law §§ 200 and 241(6)?
Labor Law § 200 addresses the general duty to provide reasonable and adequate workplace safety and is closely connected to common-law negligence principles. Labor Law § 241 governs construction, excavation, and demolition work; § 241(6) claims commonly depend on an applicable, sufficiently specific Industrial Code rule.
Section 240(1), by contrast, focuses on specified work and elevation-related protection. A construction accident can involve more than one theory. For a side-by-side comparison, read Labor Law § 200 vs. § 240 vs. § 241.
What Evidence Should Be Preserved After a Potential § 240 Accident?
Preserve photographs and video of the exact work area before it changes, the ladder/scaffold/hoist or other device if possible, witness names, incident reports, employer and contractor information, and any instructions or safety documents related to the task. Medical care should also document the injury accurately.
Because construction sites change quickly, waiting for a lawsuit to begin can be too late to recreate the condition. Our practical checklist explains what to do after a construction accident in New York.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the questions families ask most.
Is Labor Law § 240 strict liability?
every situation is different — an attorney can review the specific facts.
Does § 240 only apply to scaffolds?
Does a fall from a ladder automatically qualify?
Can a homeowner be liable under § 240?
Can a worker bring § 240 and workers’ compensation claims?
Was Your Accident Related to a Ladder, Scaffold, or Elevation Risk?
Marks Law Group can review the task, worksite roles, safety devices, and evidence to determine which New York construction-law theories may apply.