Injuries Few Among Crews at Towers Site
Despite the numerous hazards presented by the maze of sharp twisted metal, precariously balanced rubble, easily collapsed voids and burning jet fuel at the World Trade Center site, there have been no life-threatening injuries to any of the workers involved in the massive cleanup effort. With most of the work at the site done, federal records reveal that out of the 1,500 workers who put in a total of approximately 3 million hours of labor removing 1.5 million tons of debris, only thirty-five workers were seriously injured. While these reports do not include long term health problems that may result from exposure to chemicals and other health hazards at Ground Zero, the low number of serious injuries puts the cleanup effort far below the average injury rate of the demolition industry.
See "Injuries Few Among Crews at Towers Site", ERIC LIPTON, The New York Times, April 11, 2002