Is changing a lightbulb a repair or maintenance under New York’s Labor Law? Well, if you are doing work on the wiring it is clearly a “repair” and thus comes under the tough Labor Law rules that protect workers when the safety apparatus fails as they work at an elevation:
From New York’s Appellate Division, First Department (Rios v. WF-Paramount)
Plaintiff building engineer was in the process of repairing and replacing electrical wiring in the ceiling of the 12th floor, in order to restore lighting to the entire floor, at the time the ladder he was standing on collapsed. The work he was engaged in was more than simply changing a lightbulb, and constituted “repair[s]” within the meaning of Labor Law 240(1) …