New York City Construction Industry 2018 was the most dangerous year in nearly a decade

• Through October 2018, the last month of available data, construction accidents and injuries already outpaced year-end numbers recorded in 2017 (650 for both).
• The number of construction accidents in New York City has increased each year since 2014, when the city’s building boom began to gain steam.
• As of November 21, when a construction worker was crushed to death at a worksite in Brooklyn, the number of construction fatalities in NYC was 12 – which is equal to the number of construction fatalities recorded in each of the previous three full years.
• When tracked using different criteria set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the number of construction injuries and deaths in the city is even greater.

Though experts state increases in construction work and incident reporting may contribute to the higher numbers, the data – which comprise only a fraction of the 2018 year – is alarming. That’s especially true given the efforts of City officials who have adopted a number of measures designed to protect construction workers and reduce accidents, injuries, and deaths on worksites.

These measures include improve oversight of project safety, higher fines for employers and others who violate workplace safety standards, and a new law requiring a minimum of 40 hours of safety training for all workers. The rise in construction site accidents despite these efforts suggests employers may not be doing enough to protect workers from construction accidents.

”Your Rights As A Construction Worker In New York”