The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) held a media roundtable meeting in Manhattan on the 11th, specifically reminding new immigrant construction workers not to purchase Site Safety Training (SST) cards from unregistered training institutions. The DOB pointed out that in recent years, many workers have spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars on courses, only to end up with fake cards that cannot be used, leading to the inability to enter construction sites for work and even affecting employment opportunities.
Reynaldo Cabrera, Assistant Commissioner for Investigations and Compliance, stated that the DOB is currently intensifying efforts to combat counterfeit SST cards and regulate training institutions, including the introduction of the “Worker Skills Certification Card” with built-in chips, Training Connect mobile software, and a site card swiping verification system to combat the long-standing issue of fake cards and black market training.
Cabrera emphasized that SST courses do not inquire about a worker’s immigration status and do not store related information, and workers can sign up for courses using any government-issued legitimate identification from any country.
Director of Buildings Ahmed Tigani pointed out that the construction industry has long been an important entry point for new immigrants into the labor market, and the DOB hopes that workers will not refuse safety training or stay away from safety complaint mechanisms due to concerns about their status.
Cabrera mentioned that in the past, the New York City construction training market has had numerous issues of counterfeiting, even leading to an underground industry selling fake cards. A few years ago, the DOB and investigative departments jointly invalidated nearly 20,000 SST cards after investigating a training institution.
Currently, there are about 131 officially registered course training institutions in the city, and the DOB has required all training institutions to undergo stricter registration, auditing, and verification systems. Many workers have paid $800 to $1000 or even more only to receive fake cards, making them unable to pass verification when they arrive at the construction site.
According to DOB data, there are currently over 480,000 workers holding SST cards in the city. Since the system was implemented, there have been more than 34 million card swiping records accumulated at construction sites citywide.
Cabrera mentioned that SST course pricing is currently determined by the free market, ranging from about $500 to $1500, but the NYC Small Business Services (SBS) also provides some free training resources. He urged workers to first confirm the legitimacy of the training institution by visiting the DOB website before signing up to avoid being deceived by fake schools or illegal intermediaries.
Cabrera warned that if an institution claims, “No need to attend classes to get a card,” workers should immediately report it to 311. The DOB also conducts surprise inspections of physical and online courses, including sending personnel to Zoom classes to confirm whether students are actually attending, have their cameras on, and whether instructors are qualified.
In addition to combating fake cards, the DOB also released recent construction site safety data. Director Tigani stated that construction injuries in NYC have decreased by 58% from 2018 to 2025, but the number of fatalities has increased from 7 in 2022 to 10 in 2023, indicating that construction site safety issues have not been thoroughly improved.
First Deputy Commissioner Yegal Shamash mentioned that “falls” continue to be one of the main causes of construction site fatalities. Of the 10 fatal accidents in 2025, 6 were related to falls, with an average of two fall-related accidents occurring every three days.
A notable issue discussed at the meeting was the inclusion of mental health in construction safety policies for the first time. Tigani mentioned that new applicants for SST cards are now required to undergo two hours of mental health and suicide prevention training; the DOB is also studying how to allow existing cardholders to make up relevant courses.
Shamash cited statistics showing that construction workers have a five times higher risk of suicide compared to other professions. He stated that the construction industry has long faced issues of rush work, long hours, and mental strain, and the government hopes workers will utilize mental health resources like the 988 hotline.
Guillermo Patino, Deputy Commissioner for Policy and Legal Affairs, introduced two institutional reforms being pushed forward by the DOB. According to the new regulations, a construction superintendent who could previously oversee 10 construction sites at a time can now only be responsible for one site starting in 2027.
The other reform involves revising the definition of “major building” downwards. Formerly, only buildings with 10 stories or more were considered major constructions, but now this has been expanded to buildings of seven stories or more, meaning more sites will fall under higher-level safety supervision.