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Cannabis and Scaffold Law
Cannabis and Scaffold Law
RE: Adult Use Cannabis, Worker Safety, Testing and “Scaffold Law” Ramifications
As negotiations proceed to legalize adult use cannabis in New York State, the construction
industry is gravely concerned about the ramifications of worker safety, worker impairment, drug
testing and scaffold law related insurance claims.
The legalization of adult use cannabis in New York State is particularly troubling for the
entire construction industry due to the safety concerns for workers. Cannabis and its derivatives
are potent drugs that impair an individual’s judgement posing a significant danger to themselves,
co-workers, and the public. While a construction safety supervisor or law enforcement
professional may be able to smell an individual that recently smoked cannabis, its derivatives such
as vaping and edibles are not as easily detectable.
Current unregulated cannabis testing technologies and drug recognition methods do not
provide a clear indication of worker impairment which will jeopardize workplace safety. The
unregulated testing technologies can only detect the presence of cannabis for a short period of time
and drug recognition experts are limited to highly skilled law enforcement professionals.
Furthermore, the adult use cannabis proposals from the Executive and Legislature do not establish
a standardized impairment level complicating an employers’ duty to provide a safe working
environment.
Adult use cannabis poses an unmanageable insurance risk for contractors, property owners,
and governmental entities because of New York’s “Scaffold Law.” The tremendous costs and
limited availability of the commercial general liability insurance have an impact across New York
because construction costs go up, fewer workers are hired, consumers pay higher prices for goods
and services, and the economy suffers. The “Scaffold Law” (NYS Labor Law sections 240/241)
imposes absolute liability for gravity-related injuries on contractors, property owners and
governmental entities engaged in construction, repair, or demolition work. Absolute liability
means that the contributing fault of an injured worker, such as consuming cannabis at the
workplace will be virtually irrelevant in court.
We strongly urge you to include “Scaffold Law” reform in the final agreement on adult use
cannabis.