Construction Was the Second Deadliest Job in the U.S. in 2024

Fewer workers died on the job across all industries nationwide in 2024 compared to the year prior with a total of 5,070 reported deaths, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

That means there were around 3.3 fatalities per 100,000 full-time employees in the U.S. in 2024, the BLS announced Thursday, and there were a total of 217 fatal work injuries in New York that year compared to 246 in 2023.

The most common cause of death for workers in 2024 was transportation incidents, representing about 38.2 percent of all deaths in the workplace. That number remained largely unchanged at 1,937 in 2024 from 1,942 in 2023, according to the BLS. 

Trades directly involving transportation and material moving were the deadliest for the year, with the construction industry trailing in second place with 1,032 fatalities in 2024 — not just for builders themselves, but for cleaning and security staff, according to the BLS.

While more local information was not available in the BLS report, the decline in construction fatalities in 2024 was mainly driven by a 16.2 percent decrease in fatalities due to exposure to harmful substances, a category which also includes drug or alcohol overdoses.

One alarming statistic from the report was that women were most likely to be the victims of violence in the construction trades. Women represented only 8.1 percent, or 413 individuals, of all worker fatalities in 2024, but comprised 15.3 percent of all homicides that were recorded on the job that year.

In New York City alone in 2023, the most dangerous sector to work in was construction, with 69 total fatal work injuries compared to 83 in 2022, Commercial Observer reported at the time.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.