New York’s glamorous skyline, impressive public spaces, and endless apartment buildings didn’t get here by accident. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of construction workers have given their hard labor to build this city we call home.
Unfortunately, some workers give more than just their sweat. According to a report by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health, construction is one of the most dangerous industries in the state, and far too many people experience serious injury or death on the job.
The construction accident attorneys at Chopra & Nocerino are fierce advocates for construction workers in our community. We’ve put together this New York construction accident and injury report to help you better understand the industry’s current risks and your legal rights.
Construction Safety in New York
In 2024, 466 incidents involving injury or fatality occurred on construction sites supervised by the Department of Buildings (DOB) across New York City. Those incidents resulted in 482 injuries and seven fatalities. Manhattan and Brooklyn had the largest number of incidents, with Queens and the Bronx having far fewer. Staten Island did not have any incidents reported with the DOB.
- Manhattan: 190 incidents with 201 injuries and 3 fatalities
- Brooklyn: 153 incidents with 155 injuries and 2 fatalities
- Queens: 69 incidents with 71 injuries and 1 fatality
- Bronx: 54 incidents with 55 injuries and 1 fatality
Major Trends
Construction is becoming a more dangerous job across both New York City and New York State. The fatality rate for construction workers in the city increased from 11.5 per 100,000 in 2022 to 11.6 per 100,000 in 2023. Across the state, the fatality rate increased from 9.6 per 100,000 in 2022 to 10.4 per 100,000 in 2023.
These rising rates also show that construction is a particularly dangerous job in NYC when compared to the rest of the state.
Construction workers face more risk on the job than most New Yorkers. Their fatality rate in 2023 was six times higher than for New York City workers as a whole.
Types of Construction Accidents and How They Happen
While any number of things can go wrong at a construction site, most accidents result from poor planning, poor communication, or a lack of concern about safety. No matter the cause, contacting a bilingual personal injury attorney after a construction accident can help you protect your rights and maximize compensation.
Most Common Accidents
- Worker fall: Workers may fall from scaffolding, partial building structures, or large machines. Construction accident reports from January 1, 2024, through January 31, 2025, show 269 incidents with six fatalities and 270 injuries.
- Material failure: Partial building collapse and loose materials can injure and even kill. Inferior supplies, severe weather conditions, or poor engineering may cause these accidents. From January 1, 2024, through January 31, 2025, there were 48 incidents with one fatality and 50 injuries.
- Mechanical construction equipment: Heavy machinery can strike workers, and badly maintained equipment may injure operators. Poor communication, poor machinery maintenance, and lack of protective equipment can all be root causes. From January 1, 2024, through January 31, 2025, there were 34 incidents with two fatalities and 43 injuries.
Other Causes
- Excavation/soil work: These accidents include trench cave-ins, electrocutions from digging through buried electrical cables, and falling into trenches. These accidents may stem from a failure to properly survey a land site or to shore up and protect trenches. From January 1, 2024, through January 31, 2025, there were seven excavation incidents in NYC with eight injuries, although there were no fatalities.
- Scaffold/shoring installations: Workers may be injured from a scaffolding collapse or suffer a cave-in while trying to secure a trench properly. A lack of safety protections or construction work continuing during inclement weather may be at fault. Construction accident statistics from January 1, 2024, through January 31, 2025, show 12 incidents with no fatalities and 12 injuries. Scaffold accidents can be especially serious. Victims may want to contact a New York scaffolding accident attorney to ensure their rights are protected.
Role of DOB and OSHA
Several local, state, and federal bodies oversee construction sites in New York City. Two of the most important bodies are the NYC DOB and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA.
NYC DOB
New York City’s DOB oversees all buildings and construction sites in the city. On construction sites, the DOB works to minimize safety risks to the public and also helps enforce labor regulations such as New York’s Workers’ Bill of Rights.
The DOB faces many challenges due to its large area of responsibility and a lack of resources. As of 2023, 18 percent of the positions at DOB were unstaffed. That means fewer workers to inspect job sites and keep track of infractions.
While the DOB actually gained additional funding in the 2024 fiscal year budget, it only did so after a chaotic budgeting process that started off with a 4 percent cut for all agencies. The lack of budget stability can make it difficult for agencies such as DOB to plan for long-term expansion and multi-year initiatives.
OSHA
OSHA protects workers’ safety and prevents retaliation for speaking out about harmful conditions on the job. It works closely with state agencies such as the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, or NYCOSH, to provide safe workplaces for all employees.
Data on OSHA shows troubling trends of fewer inspections, fewer fines for fatal incidents, and less public information. The agency lost 14 percent of its staff at worker protection agencies right before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and currently faces calls to dissolve it altogether.
While DOB and OSHA do their best to protect worker safety, both agencies face enormous challenges. You can protect your rights by talking to a New York construction accident lawyer if you’ve been injured or have witnessed unsafe work conditions.
Union vs. Non-Union Sites
All construction workers benefit from government regulations, but many also enjoy union protection. Unions can help workers negotiate working conditions that exceed OSHA and DOB safety requirements. They also have a formal grievance process for reporting any contract violations.
On the other hand, non-union members must rely solely on the protections offered by government agencies. They frequently work on job sites with lower safety standards and may even be required to buy their own safety equipment. Without the protection of a union, workers may feel too worried about retaliation to speak out about unsafe working conditions.
OSHA data shows the difference in construction site fatalities between union and non-union workplaces. Of 44 OSHA construction fatality investigations in 2023, 78 percent of those who died were on non-union sites. Non-union sites also frequently violate safety standards designed to prevent falls.
NYCOSH has called on New York State to step up protections for all workers, especially those not in a union. Tighter regulations and better enforcement could both help protect non-union workers.
Vulnerable Worker Populations
While all construction workers face serious risks on the job site, some communities experience more injury and death. Latinx workers, for instance, make up 26 percent of all worker fatalities in New York State, despite only comprising 10 percent of the worker population.
Many of the risks faced by Latinx workers overlap with the risks faced by immigrant workers, who make up 63 percent of all construction workers in the city. Both groups may be afraid of speaking up about safety hazards for fear of being targeted by immigration enforcement. Unions are able to advocate for their workers when it comes to unsafe conditions, but many unions exclude undocumented workers.
Advocating for Workers and Building Better Workplaces
Construction workers deserve a safe work environment and better enforcement of current safety laws. These include NYC’s Scaffold Safety Law, which allows workers and their families to sue employers or building owners for falls, and Carlos’ Law, which increases the maximum fine for corporations found responsible for worker injuries and death.
Proper staffing and predictable funding at agencies responsible for worker safety, such as DOB and OSHA, could help ensure more consistent site inspections and fines for worker safety violations.
New laws could also go further in protecting workers. Some organizations have called on New York State to increase penalties on companies responsible for worker deaths and make worker endangerment a felony.
Exercising Your Legal Rights
At our law firm, we know that behind each construction accident statistic is a hardworking New Yorker and a concerned or grieving family. By publishing our New York construction accident and injury report, we hope to help workers exercise their legal rights after an accident.
We’re proud to offer free consultations and bilingual legal services to our clients across the five boroughs. When you contact our firm, you’re not just a case number—we treat our clients like family and are ready to fight hard no matter where a case takes us.
If you were injured in a construction accident in New York, don’t wait to secure top-notch legal representation. The attorneys at Chopra & Nocerino are real New Yorkers who stop at nothing to defend our clients and make sure their bills are paid. Contact us online or call (855) NYC-HURT today for a free consultation.
