How much is a life worth? According to Avanti Building Consultants and the NYCB Engineering group, a life is not worth very much. The two New York City firms committed such flagrant ethical breach of trust I don’t know where to start.
In an online article that was written by Jonathan Dienst for Channel 4 in New York City (July 2, 2014), Dienst reported:
“Two construction firms allegedly hired busboys, hairdressers and people off the internet to conduct fake safety inspections at construction projects instead of paying more to hire real inspectors, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office… In some cases, executives at Avanti Building Consultants are accused of hiring day hires off Craigslist and other websites. In some cases, the company allegedly had those hires use the name of a dead building inspector in order to pull off the scam.”
The two firms didn’t want to pay legitimate, experienced building inspectors at $100 an hour, so they literally hired phonies for $20 an hour. The phonies filed reports with the construction firms, and the firms submitted the reports to the building authority. The two firms committed fraud at 40 construction sites and it was reported that all of the buildings were 15 or more stories high. It was not only the workers who were at risk, but the public. As the article reported:
“…certified on-site safety managers were never put in place to ensure safety netting, scaffolding or safety rails were put in place.”
The phony inspectors were charged with crimes as well. That means they knew they were doing something wrong.
Suppose it was you
Buildings are not just inspected when the last coat of paint has been applied. There are frequent inspections. The defense the companies might try to come up with is that these were just “minor inspections” or exterior inspections of no consequence. Or it could be that these minor inspections were potentially very big deals.
I know all too well that when I prepare a talk, I sometimes write-up notes for hand-outs. I can look at the same document 10 times and I may miss an error in grammar, spelling or punctuation that could completely change the meaning of the document.
I always have my work checked; inspected, if you will. This is a tiny, insignificant example in the overall scheme of things, but I am trying to make an ethical point.
Would I want a hairdresser or a busboy or someone hired on Craigslist to inspect any aspect of a 50 story building? What are you kidding me?
Even if the building were being perfectly built, why would I risk ignoring a safety violation on the exterior scaffolding? For example, suppose no one inspected to see if there was safety netting properly in place – and a brick fell to earth? I could not live with myself if I was a “phony inspector” and I was to later learn that a brick struck a pedestrian or that due to the absence of a safety rail a worker plunged to his or her death.
I understand that times are difficult for many and that $20 an hour is good money. However, to not think through the consequences, to not think through the fact that my phony inspection could cost lives, is the direst of consequences.
I also understand that margins are tight. However there is a difference between cutting it close and creating a dangerous situation. This is where unethical actions lead to terrible consequences. Even if I were to understand the desperate “inspectors,” how could I forgive the construction companies? I cannot.
We tend to think that ethics are essential for some trades, but non-essential or downright silly for others. I sharply disagree. Should a construction company be less ethical than an accounting firm? Should the president of a construction firm be held to a lower ethical standard than a CFO?
We should all be able to answer that question; especially the accountants who might work in the poorly constructed building.
The construction companies are soon due in court, as are the phony inspectors. The buildings were all ordered to be re-inspected. In the end, nothing was saved and nothing was gained.
See New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/nyregion/companies-faked-safety-inspections-in-new-york-city-prosecutors-say.html?_r=0