KEY TAKEAWAYS
Section 23 of the New York Industrial Code, known as Rule 23, translates broad labor law duties into hundreds of concrete requirements covering scaffolding, hoisting, excavation, demolition, cranes, power equipment, and site housekeeping. Because these rules are specific, a violation that causes an injury can support a lawsuit against owners and contractors under Labor Law 241(6), not just a workers' compensation claim. Knowing which rule applies to your accident is often what separates a modest settlement from a full recovery.
New York construction workers are covered by both federal and state safety standards, and the two are not equivalent. The New York State Industrial Code is frequently more demanding than its federal counterpart, and it carries something federal regulations generally do not: a direct path to a personal injury lawsuit. That is the practical value of construction worker rights under Section 23.
Rule 23 applies exclusively throughout the state, to every employer, owner, contractor, and agent responsible for a construction, demolition, or excavation site. The construction injury lawyers at Hofmann & Schweitzer rely on these provisions constantly, because a specific rule violation is far more persuasive to an insurer than a general argument that a site was unsafe.
Table of Contents
What Is Section 23 of the New York Industrial Code?
Section 23 is Part 23 of Title 12 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations, issued by the Commissioner of Labor. It exists because Labor Law 241 directs owners and contractors to follow the Commissioner's safety rules, and Rule 23 is that rulebook. The official text of Industrial Code Rule 23 is published through the Legal Information Institute.
The rule is organized into subparts, and knowing where your accident falls helps identify the provision that governs it:
- Subpart 23-1 — General provisions, definitions, and site-wide requirements
- Subpart 23-2 — Construction operations
- Subpart 23-3 — Demolition operations
- Subpart 23-4 — Excavation operations
- Subpart 23-5 — Scaffolding
- Subpart 23-6 — Material hoisting
- Subpart 23-7 — Personnel hoists
- Subpart 23-8 — Mobile cranes, tower cranes, and derricks
- Subpart 23-9 — Power-operated equipment
- Subpart 23-10 — Exhaust gases from internal combustion engines
- Subpart 23-11 — Use of explosives
Subpart 23-1.4 supplies the definitions courts use to decide whether a particular task even counts as construction, demolition, or excavation work. That threshold question decides whether the rest of the rulebook applies to you at all. Related provisions govern Industrial Code rules for hoisting ropes and rigging and mobile crane, tower crane, and derrick safety rules.
A Plain-Language Rights Checklist for New York Construction Workers
Stripped of the regulatory language, Rule 23 gives you a set of concrete entitlements on any covered job site. You have the right to:
- Overhead protection. Wherever you must work or pass beneath an area exposed to falling materials, built to withstand the loads the rule specifies.
- Covered or guarded floor openings. Any opening you could step or fall into needs a securely fastened cover or a safety railing. Where access is required, a barrier with an outward-swinging, latched gate is the substitute.
- Footing that is not slippery. Employers may not permit work on a floor, walkway, scaffold, passage, or platform in a slippery condition, and must remove or neutralize water, ice, snow, and grease.
- Clear passageways. Floors and walkways must be kept free of debris, idle tools, loose materials, cords, and sharp projections that could cause a trip, cut, or puncture.
- Safe vertical access. Stairways, ramps, or runways must be provided to reach working levels, with ladders or another safe means where conditions genuinely prevent installation.
- Breathable air. Confined and unventilated spaces—sewers, tanks, pits, chimneys—must be tested for contaminants and for sufficient oxygen before anyone is permitted to enter.
- Adequate illumination. Working areas require a minimum light level, with a lower but still specified minimum for passageways, stairways, and landings.
- Basic sanitary facilities. This includes clean drinking water and enough toilet facilities for the crew, plus sheltered changing space when the work requires it.
- Competent supervision. Where the rule requires a task to be performed by or under a designated person, the employer must designate someone with genuine experience in that work.
These are floor requirements, not aspirations. When one of them is ignored and a worker is hurt, the failure is documented and enforceable. The same logic applies on underground and tunnel work, where confined-space and ventilation rules carry unusual weight, and on projects governed by scaffold safety standards.
How a Section 23 Violation Turns Into a Legal Claim
A Rule 23 violation is not automatically a winning case. To use it, an injured worker generally has to establish four things: that the work being performed was a covered construction, demolition, or excavation activity; that a specific provision of Rule 23 was violated; that the provision is concrete rather than a general exhortation to be careful; and that the violation actually caused the injury.
That third element trips up many claims. General provisions—the ones that simply restate a duty to provide adequate protection—are usually considered too broad to support a lawsuit on their own. The specific, measurable rules are the ones that carry weight: a plank thickness, a rated capacity, a required inspection, a mandated guard.
Unlike Scaffold Law claims, an Industrial Code claim can be reduced by a worker's own comparative fault. That makes documentation important. Photographs of the condition before it is corrected, the names of coworkers who saw it, daily reports, toolbox talk sign-in sheets, and inspection logs all help establish both the violation and its role in the accident.
Federal Standards Do Not Replace New York Rules
Federal safety regulations still apply on New York sites, and an inspection citation can be persuasive evidence. But a federal citation is issued to the employer and produces a fine paid to the government—it does not compensate you. Rule 23 is different, because Labor Law 241(6) converts a violation into a basis for recovery against owners and contractors who may never have set foot on the site.
Practically, that means the same accident can produce a workers' compensation claim through your employer and a separate third-party lawsuit built on Rule 23. The compensation claim moves first and covers medical treatment and a portion of lost wages. The Industrial Code claim is where the full measure of a serious injury—future earnings, ongoing care, and pain and suffering—is addressed.
