Construction Remains NYC’s Most Fatal Industry: Report

Construction was still the deadliest occupation in New York City in 2023, even as on-site job deaths declined around the city, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There were 69 total fatal work injuries in the city in 2023, down from 83 in 2022, the report released Friday found. Twenty-four of those total fatalities, or 35 percent, occurred in the construction sector, with half due to falls, slips and trips.

Falls, slips and trips tied with exposure to harmful substances or environments for the most frequent causes of workplace deaths in the city, each with 19 instances, or 28 percent of all fatal injuries, according to the report.

Meanwhile, transportation incidents accounted for 13 deaths, or 19 percent of the city’s workplace fatalities, the report found.

A spokesperson for the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Latino workers accounted for 28 deaths, or 41 percent, of New York City’s total job fatalities in 2023, while workers ages 55 to 64 made up 27, or 39 percent, of those deaths, according to the report.

But the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) had different data for construction-related fatalities in 2023, reporting only seven deaths, according to its report.

When a similar discrepancy in numbers took place for the city’s 2017 data, former Mayor Bill de Blasio argued the inconsistencies between city and federal death counts on construction sites were due to “jurisdictional differences” in how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the DOB track deaths, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

The DOB only collects and tracks fatalities that are within their jurisdiction, which are specifically construction-related incidents at privately owned properties and city-owned properties. Meanwhile, OSHA tracks fatalities from outside that jurisdiction, including incidents occurring on road, bridge or tunnel construction projects.

As for national numbers in 2023, there were a total of 5,283 fatal workplace injuries, a 3.7 percent decrease from 5,486 deaths in 2022, according to the report. Construction accounted for 1,075 of those deaths nationwide.

The 2023 data released Friday represents the most recent figures available. Data from 2024 is not yet compiled.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.