Thousands of New York City construction workers who have on-site safety training cards issued by Valor Consulting will have to take safety training from a different company to continue working, as the U.S. Department of Buildings city disabled the cards and announced its intention to revoke the company. status as an approved OSH course provider.
Valor and six of its executives and employees face criminal charges announced by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in February. Prosecutors say the company ran a “bogus” safety training school and issued OSH cards without providing the training. According to the city’s Local Law 196, workers on large construction projects need at least 40 hours of safety training from a Department of Buildings-approved provider.
Buildings Commissioner Jimmy Oddo said in a statement that the department had to invalidate the training cards issued by Valor “because we cannot, in good conscience, continue to allow untrained workers in these jobs, where they can pose a danger to themselves and their colleagues.”
Of the 20,000 SST cards issued by Valor, 17,000 were still active, Department of Buildings officials said. Following the invalidation of these cards, there are still over 360,000 construction workers in the city with active OSH cards issued by other approved training providers.
There are over 150 OH&S providers approved by the Department of Buildings. A list is available online.
Officials say they suspended Valor’s ability to issue OSH cards in April 2023 and have been reaching out to workers and contractors over the past month to tell them to get legitimate OSH training.
Department of Buildings officials warn that workers trying to enter a workplace where OSH training is required will be turned away if they have a Valor-issued card. Any contractor who allows workers to enter without the required valid SST card could also face enforcement action.
Eligible workers can receive training at no cost through the New York Department of Small Business Services. Information about the program is available on the department’s website.
The hearing in the case against Valor is scheduled for April 3, court records show.
