As we are about to celebrate Labor Day, we should consider all of the workers who are forced to work under dangerous conditions.
Every year, dozens of construction workers in New York never make it home from a job site. A new report from the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), Deadly Skyline, puts hard numbers behind what we see too often.
What the data shows:
- 55 construction workers died on the job across New York State in 2024 with 19 of them in New York City alone.
- 81% of workers who died were on non-union job sites, where training, oversight, and reporting protections tend to be weaker.
- Hispanic workers made up 25.8% of construction fatalities in 2024, despite being just 18.6% of the state’s workforce, a gap researchers tie to language barriers, fear of retaliation, and unequal access to safety training.
- In 77% of fatality cases OSHA investigated, the employer already had safety violations on record, yet nothing currently stops these companies from receiving public subsidies.
- Enforcement hasn’t kept up: OSHA inspections in NY remain nearly 30% below pre-pandemic levels, and average fines in fatality cases dropped to $25,295 in 2024, the lowest since 2017.
The pattern is consistent: cut corners, thin oversight, and workers, especially immigrant and non-union workers, pay the price.
New York’s Scaffold Safety Law (Labor Law §240) still gives injured workers and families a path to hold negligent contractors and building owners accountable.
If you have questions about a job-site injury, reach out for a free, no-obligation consultation.
