Deadly Skyline 2025: A Wake-Up Call for Construction Safety in New York

In 2023, the construction industry in New York reached a grim milestone—74 construction workers lost their lives across the state, a 48% increase from the previous year. In New York City alone, 30 workers died, marking the highest toll in over a decade. The findings published by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health (NYCOSH) Deadly Skyline Report paint a troubling picture: safety violations are rampant, OSHA enforcement is waning, and vulnerable workers—especially Latinx and non-union laborers—are paying the ultimate price.

Construction work is one of the most dangerous occupations in the U.S.  In 2023, there were 1,075 construction worker deaths, accounting for 20% of worker fatalities despite construction workers comprising only 4.6% of the nation’s workforce.  Falls, slips, and trips are the leading cause of construction worker deaths.  The majority of fatal construction falls  (260 deaths in 2023 or 64.4%) were from a height between 6 feet and 30 feet.  Portable ladders and stairs were the leading cause of fatal falls. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023).  Meanwhile, construction worker union membership in 2023 declined to an all-time low of 11.3% (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024).

The Numbers Don’t Lie: A Crisis in Worker Safety in New York

• Construction Fatalities Are Rising in New York State.
• Statewide fatalities jumped from 50 in 2022 to 74 in 2023, the highest in 10 years.
• In New York City, construction deaths increased by 25% in just one year, from 24 in 2022 to 30 in 2023.
• Latin comunity Workers Face Disproportionate Risks
• Latin Comunity workers make up 10% of New York’s workforce but accounted for 26% of construction deaths in 2023.
• Many of these workers are immigrants, often working on non-union job sites with weaker safety protections.
• Non-Union Sites Are More Dangerous
• Analyzing OSHA’s 44 fatality investigations in 2023, NYCOSH found that 77% of the workers who died were on non-union job sites.
• Non-union workers frequently lack access to training and protective measures, leaving them vulnerable to accidents.
• Fines Are Decreasing, Even as Fatalities Rise
• OSHA’s average fine for a fatal construction case plummeted from $59,075 in 2022 to $32,123 in 2023—a 45.6% decrease.
• Lower penalties mean negligent employers face little financial incentive to prioritize safety.
• Inspections Are Still Below Pre-Pandemic Levels
• While OSHA conducted 3,772 inspections in 2023 (up from 3,183 in 2022), this remains 15.3% lower than 2019 levels.
• Less oversight leads to more hazardous job sites.
• Government Subsidies Go to Contractors with Violations
• NYCOSH found that 74% of job sites where workers died in 2023 had prior OSHA violations.
• Shockingly, these violations did not disqualify contractors from receiving public funding.

The Regulatory and Policy Failures Allowing This to Happen

Despite the rise in fatalities, regulatory enforcement and safety oversight are failing to keep pace with the crisis:

• Lack of State Regulatory Enforcement: Outside of New York City, construction worksite safety is regulated by the U.S Occupational Safety & Health Agency (OSHA). In NYC, the City’s Department of Buildings regulates construction sites and buildings.
• Understaffed and Underfunded Oversight Agencies: The NYC Department of Buildings lost 119 staff positions in 2024, despite a rise in construction projects. Budget cuts have weakened enforcement capacity, meaning fewer inspections and slower response times.
• Federal OSHA Weaknesses: OSHA’s public accountability is declining, with fewer press releases on violations and weaker penalties for safety breaches. The agency’s budget, which was not increased in 2024, in now the target of a 12% budget cut in 2025.
• Carlos’ Law Needs Stronger Enforcement: Passed in 2023, NYS Penal Law 20.20 (“Carlos’ Law”) increased fines on corporations found criminally responsible for worker deaths up to $500,000. The new law was enacted because, “In the few cases that have resulted in conviction, the penalty was only $1,000 on average … The weakness of OSH’s punitive measures has therefore failed to encourage safer work environments” (S621B). To be effective, however, prosecutors must actively enforce Carlo’s Law to ensure that companies who ignore or fail to follow safety laws face real consequences rather than “write off serious workplace injuries as a minimal cost of doing business…” (S621B).

What Needs to Change: NYCOSH’s Recommendations

NYCOSH’s Deadly Skyline report offers a clear roadmap for reversing this dangerous trend:

1. Strengthen Safety Training and Education

• Expand mandatory construction training and certification statewide (similar to NYC’s Local Law 196).
• Ensure free or low-cost access to safety training for low-income and immigrant workers.

2. Enforce Protective Legislation

• Defend NYS’s Scaffold Safety Law, which holds construction site owners and contractors accountable for falls from heights.
• Fully implement Carlos’ Law, ensuring prosecutors hold criminal contractors accountable.

3. Increase Government Oversight and Accountability

• Prosecute negligent contractors in all boroughs, following the lead of Manhattan and Brooklyn DAs.
• Suspend or revoke licenses for contractors with fatal safety violations.
• Increase NYC Department of Buildings funding to allow for more site inspections and enforcement.

4. Stop Public Funding for Unsafe Contractors

• End subsidies for contractors with a history of OSHA violations.
• Require worker protection policies as a condition for receiving city and state funding.

5. Protect Latin comunity and Immigrant Workers

• Increase whistleblower protections for workers who report unsafe conditions.
• Offer multilingual safety training tailored to immigrant workers.

Special Legal Protections For Injured Workers Under New York Law

In the face of rising construction fatalities, decreasing regulatory safety enforcement, and industry “tort reform” efforts to further erode worker protections, New York State’s Labor Law §§ 200, 240, and 241 stand to protect construction workers from serious injury and death. Labor Law § 240, commonly known as the “Scaffold Law,” requires that owners and contractors protect workers exposed to gravity-related hazards, such as falling from a roof, ladder, scaffold, or aerial lift, or being struck by a falling object that was improperly hoisted or secured. New York law allows injured workers to directly sue the property owner or general contractor for these safety violations, which promotes the hiring of responsible subcontractors who follow the law and provide workers with necessary safety equipment. A number of legal advocates, including the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA), continue to defend the Scaffold Law as a vital worker safety protection law.

Conclusion: Construction Deaths Are Preventable

Every statistic in the Deadly Skyline report represents a construction worker who tragically never made it home to their family. Going to work should not be a safety hazard.  But without stronger safety laws, effective regulatory enforcement, and a commitment to construction worker safety, more lives will be lost.

If you or a loved one has suffered a construction injury, it is important to know your rights and consult with an attorney who is experienced in representing injured workers and wrongful death claims under New York’s specialized construction safety laws .