CHENANGO COUNTY – The Chenango County Board of Supervisors is getting on board with a statewide movement to modify or repeal a law that was originally put in place to protect construction workers.

The board unanimously passed a resolution last week in support of the repeal or reform of New York Labor Law sections 240 and 241, colloquially known as the “Scaffold Law.”

Enacted in 1885 and unchanged ever since, the Scaffold Law imposes “absolute liability” on employers and owners of buildings if a worker falls from any height. This has been problematic for employers as any contributing fault of an injured worker, such as failure to use provided safety equipment or gross negligence, is irrelevant when the claim goes to court.

Now 130 years after the law was put on the books, opponents argue it’s not only a burden to employers who front the cost of expensive lawsuits and rising insurance premiums, but it’s also deterring private developers from investing in infrastructure in New York.

According to ScaffoldLaw.org, a reformist website backed by several affected entities, including the New York State Builders Association and the Business Council of New York State, the Scaffold Law generates an astounding number of expensive lawsuits. The site additionally claims that “the number of lawsuits has increased by 500 percent since 1990, despite a decreasing rate of injuries. Because of this, the cost of insuring construction projects is as much as 10 times higher than other states.”

“A lot of people understand what the problem is, but this is also an economic problem,” said Smithville Town Supervisor Fred Heisler. “Not only does it effect our construction businesses but it effects all of us. It’s a cost we don’t see, but we pay dearly for.”

Heisler, a self-employed contractor himself, explained that as a small enterprise, his company pays as much as $100,000 per year in insurance costs alone – the cause being that the Scaffold Law holds the employer completely liable if a worker has an elevation related injury.