Advocacy group releases ‘Deadly Skyline’ report on NY construction industry

New York — The number of construction workers killed in New York state jumped 48% in 2023 from 2022, translating to an 8.3% increase in the fatality rate, according to a recent report from a worker advocacy group.

The New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health gathered data from multiple sources, including the New York State Department of Labor and the New York City Department of Buildings. It found that 74 construction workers in the state died on the job in 2023 – up from 50 the year before. The worker fatality rate increased to 10.4 per 100,000 workers.

During that same time, the number of construction workers killed in New York City rose to 30 from 24, raising the worker fatality rate to 11.6 per 100,000 workers from 11.5.

The analysis also reveals that 74% of the fatal incidents statewide had preventable safety violations, and 77% of the deaths were nonunion workers.

Latino workers comprise about 10% of New York state’s construction workforce, yet they accounted for 26% of the deaths in 2023. 

NYCOSH also analyzed OSHA-inspected construction fatality cases and found that in 73% of them, the employer had concurrent OSHA violations that often directly correlated with the circumstances of the death. For example, in cases in which the worker died from a fall, employers frequently were fined for failing to provide essential safety training and not implementing required fall protection measures.

“We urgently need increased funding for enforcement and proactive measures to protect our most vulnerable workers,” NYCOSH Executive Director Charlene Obernauer said in a March 4 press release. “These numbers represent a clear failure of our system to protect workers.”

The report features recommendations to address the rise in construction worker deaths:

• Require and fund adequate safety and training. This could include adopting regulations like New York City’s Construction Safety Training Law (Local Law 196).
• Extend and defend protective legislation, such as the state’s Scaffold Safety Law and Carlos’ Law, the latter of which increases penalties against employers responsible for worker injuries and deaths.
• Expand regulations, monitoring and enforcement. This can be achieved by prosecuting criminal contractors, suspending/revoking their licenses and funding more federal OSHA safety programs.
• Increase funding for the NYC Department of Buildings.
• End public funding for contractors who are repeat offenders and tie subsidies to worker protections.
• Address disparities in workplace deaths among Latino and immigrant workers.