New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/16/2015 -- Leading personal injury firm Gersowitz Libo & Korek, P.C., noted with approval the passage of the Construction Insurance Transparency Act of 2015 by the New York State Assembly Insurance Committee. Meeting with 19-to-5 vote support from committee members, the proposal represents an important step toward transparency for the construction insurance industry. By requiring construction insurance providers to file regular financial statements with the New York State Superintendent of Financial Services, the Act would shed valuable light on the true costs behind construction insurance premiums and shore up the state's 130-year-old Scaffold Safety Law, thereby protecting workers.

"We're pleased to note that the Construction Insurance Transparency Act of 2015 successfully passed out of the Assembly's Insurance Committee on March 19 with nearly every member in favor," Gersowitz Libo & Korek partner Jeff S. Korek reported, "This is a significant victory in the fight to safeguard vulnerable construction workers and ensure that the construction insurance industry does not succeed in rolling back proven, long-standing, job-site protections. We hope that the Code Committee and the full legislature will be just as perceptive about how important this bill is."

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the construction industry is one of the most dangerous of all, with around 800 deaths occurring among workers in the average year. A full third of these fatalities result from falls from heights, making this particular danger one of the greatest that American workers face.

Originally enacted in 1885, New York State's Scaffold Safety Law has evolved over the years with the aim of reducing the magnitude of this problem. In its present form, the law makes employers and property owners responsible for seeing to the safety of those who work on scaffolds. In addition, it makes them financially liable to workers who suffer falls from scaffolding in many cases, a protection that supporters say gives the law teeth and provides much-needed support to workers and their families.

That law has come under concerted attack in recent years, however, with critics claiming that it unnecessarily inflates construction-related costs. The Construction Insurance Transparency Act of 2015 represents an attempt by the bill's sponsors to shed light on what many have claimed are dubious arguments made by insurance-industry opponents of the Scaffold Law.

Supported by the Scaffold Safety Coalition, a wide-ranging alliance of unions, public interest groups, and other organizations, the Construction Insurance Transparency Act of 2015 would require construction industry insurers to provide detailed information about their finances and claim records to the state. Supporters, including leading personal injury law firm Gersowitz Libo & Korek, believe that this would help establish the true costs of the century-plus-old Scaffold Law, whatever they might be, along with contributing valuable transparency in other respects.

As a leading force for protecting the state's construction workers and other vulnerable citizens, Gersowitz Libo & Korek is a strong proponent of the the Construction Insurance Transparency Act of 2015. Firm partner Jeff S. Korek's analysis of the bill at https://www.lawyertime.com/the-sunshine-bill-one-more-step-towards-saving-new-yorks-scaffold-law/ explains why it is so important that it be passed into law.

About Gersowitz Libo & Korek, P.C.
For more than thirty years, the attorneys of Gersowitz Libo & Korek, P.C., have helped to win compensation for those who have been injured through the faults of others, recovering more than $700 million for clients and securing a long list of awards, national press coverage, and other distinctions.