A recent report from the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) states that 55 workers died in construction site accidents in 2024. According to a news report, the nonprofit that advocates for workers’ rights, released its Deadly Skyline report, which showed modest declines in construction accident deaths. However, advocates say it offers little comfort given the persistent failures in safety, accountability and worker protections, which they say is driving the deaths.
Fatalities Still Alarmingly High
The report also shows that the fatalities are concentrated among immigrant workers at non-union job sites. This is all happening in an environment where the number of inspections are dropping, the fear of reporting safety violations is rising and fines are declining. New York City is still a dangerous place for construction workers who in this city are more than six times as likely to experience a fatal workplace incident compared with the average worker, the report states.
Between 2015 and 2024, at least 587 construction workers have died on the job in New York State. In New York City alone, 218 workers were killed over that decade, an average of about 22 per year. The report draws on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the city’s Department of Buildings and the New York State Department of Labor, among others.
Non-Union and Immigrant Workers Are More Vulnerable
The report found that 81% of construction workers who died on the job were non-union. Unionized workers often have greater access to safety training, stronger workplace protections and mechanisms for reporting dangers in the workplace through collective bargaining agreements. The report also found that Latino workers make up an estimated 18.6% of New York State’s workforce accounted for 25.8% of worker fatalities in 2024.
Advocates say this is because Latino workers often do the jobs that have the greatest physical risk, limited safety oversight and inconsistent access to safety training and protective equipment. Also, in the current political environment, immigrant workers fear deportation, which makes them more reluctant to report unsafe conditions, refuse dangerous tasks or even seek medical care — increasing their risk of workplace injuries and death. The report documents how immigration enforcement near construction sites had made immigrant workers more vulnerable, especially in the roofing and demolishing trades.
Compensation for Injured Workers
Many construction workers in New York City such as roofers, ironworkers, steelworkers, carpenters, masons, bricklayers, painters, window washers, and electricians etc. tend to work from an elevation by using scaffolds, platforms, ladders etc. When a construction worker is injured on the job, the first line of financial protection is usually workers’ compensation, which provides benefits irrespective of fault — covering medical expenses, a portion of lost wages and rehabilitation costs. However, workers’ compensation does not cover pain and suffering and benefits are often limited compared to the full extent of losses. The large verdicts and settlements occur when others are sued in third-party cases.
In some situations, injured workers may also pursue a third-party lawsuit in addition to workers’ compensation. These claims arise when someone other than the employer — such as a subcontractor, equipment manufacturer, or property owner or manager — contributed to the accident. For example, if defective machinery caused the injury, the manufacturer may be held liable. Third-party lawsuits can provide compensation for damages not covered by workers’ compensation, including pain and suffering, emotional distress and full lost earnings, and these verdicts and settlements can be quite large.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you have suffered injuries in a construction accident, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. It is in the best interest of injured victims and their families in such cases to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer before contacting the people responsible for the injuries, and definitely before contacting or communicating with any insurance company, or their lawyers, investigators, or adjusters.
Our law firm recovered $3,375,576 for a construction worker (an undocumented immigrant) who was injured on the job — one of the highest construction case settlements in New York that year. Our law firm also recovered $3,000,000 for a man who fell and suffered two broken legs when he walked into an open elevator shaft. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys‘ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury cases, motor vehicle accidents, slip-and-fall accidents, ceiling collapse cases, lead poisoning, paraplegia cases, quadriplegia cases and medical malpractice cases including, brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) and cerebral palsy cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
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Source:https://www.constructionowners.com/news/new-york-construction-workers-are-still-dying-a-new-report-says-the-system-is-failing-them