NYC Construction Deaths Hit a 10-Year High in 2023

A recent report found 2023 to be the deadliest for New York City’s construction industry in a decade of tracking by a worker safety group.

There were 30 construction workers who died on the job in 2023, The City reported. The findings were released by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health, which has tracked the industry since 2013 and releases an annual “Deadly Skyline” report.

NYCOSH analyzes data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics for its report. The analysis of 2023 uncovered an increase in worker fatalities in the city for the third consecutive year.

“We know these are not just numbers,” Charlene Obernauer, NYCOSH executive director, told The City.

Construction worker deaths rose across the state in 2023. There were 44 deaths in New York State in 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, excluding deaths in New York City. That was the second most deaths at the state level in a 10-year period.

Incidents in 2023 included the deaths of Francisco Reyes and Fernando Lagunas Pereira who were trapped under debris while doing construction work at John F. Kennedy International Airport. They were moving utility lines when a concrete slab above them broke and collapsed; Bronx-based Triumph Construction Corporation was fined $59,000 as a result.

Another tragic incident occurred when 19-year-old Ommatt Cruz, who was directing traffic, was crushed by a cherry picker being operated by his father.

Regulation of the construction industry is of increasing concern to NYCOSH. In 2023, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s average fine for employers liability for construction fatalities dropped to $32,123, a six-year low.

OSHA’s oversight is only expected to worsen under regulatory and headcount cuts by President Donald Trump’s administration. On his first day in office, Trump indefinitely suspended OSHA’s proposal for establishing workplace heat safety regulations across the country.

— Holden Walter-Warner