This past week, Kevin Kelly, a 25 year old from Bayside, Queens, became the latest person to die in a construction accident when he plummeted nine floors while installing windows at The Laurel, luxury apartment at 400 E. 67th St.

      The incident followed several other horrifying construction deaths that have been coming with increased regularity. The circumstances surrounding each accident are different, but they all lead to the same conclusion: Something needs to change at the department of Buildings.

     In recent months, the department has created in interim inspection protocol for tower cranes, overhauled regulations for concrete operators and launched a 30 day crackdown on scaffolds and sidewalk sheds. That's a start.

     State Senator Liz Krueger, in the wake of the March crane collapse, called for Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster to step down. Whether she stays or goes, the department needs to reevaluate how it does business, and there are steps the Legislature can take to address construction safety.

    Borough President Scott Stringer recently highlighted issues that deserve attention, following the release of the department's report about the Park West Village retaining-wall collapse. The report blamed the incident on the project's supervising engineer, who allegedly allowed piles to be built on "faulted and weathered rock" without  addressing the problematic conditions. Stringer rightly wonders why it isn't the department's job to identify and monitor such issues.

     About a month ago, there was news of a more serious lapse surrounding the crane collapse. A department inspector was arrested after filing a false report, which stated that he'd inspected the crane when he never actually went to the side, according to published accounts. Although that falsified report did not appear to be tied to the crane's collapse, the bottom line is that the department needs to step up its approach to , and execution of inspections.

     Krueger has suggested several legislative changes, all of which are worth exploring. As it stands, developers are allowed to certify the safety of their own projects. Letting the building industry police itself is clearly not working, and lawmakers should look at creating an independent certification protocol that's fair , but not overly burdensome, for developers.

     Penalties also need to be more immediate and severe so that they are no longer viewed as "the cost of doing business" for construction companies.

      And Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau has pushed for defining negligence as five violations within a three-month period, making it easier to bring charges against developers.

     Outside of government , the building industry could do more to speak out on the issue of safely; perhaps hiring independent consultants to evaluate construction practices or collaborating with the department on inspections would be helpful.  These actions would demonstrate to an increasingly skeptical public that quick profits aren't more important than human life.