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News Release Information

19-42-NEW
Thursday, January 10, 2019

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (617) 565-4141

Fatal Occupational Injuries in New York City – 2017

Fatal work injuries totaled 87 in 2017 for New York City, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that the number of work-related fatalities in New York City rose by 31 from the previous year. Fatal occupational injuries in the city have ranged from a high of 191 in 1993 to a low of 56 in 2013 and 2016. (See chart 1.)

Nationwide, a total of 5,147 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2017, down slightly from the 5,190 fatal injuries reported in 2016, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program.

Type of incident

In New York City, falls, slips, and trips accounted for 31 fatal work injuries, and violence and other injuries by persons or animals resulted in 24 fatalities. These two major categories accounted for 63 percent of all workplace fatalities in New York City. (See table 1.) The number of workplace deaths due to falls, slips, and trips rose by 18 over the year, while the number of worker fatalities from violence and other injuries by persons or animals increased by 4 from the previous year.

Exposure to harmful substances or environments was the third-most frequent fatal work event with 14 fatalities, followed by transportation incidents with 11 work-related deaths. Both of these event categories were up from 2016.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2017, accounting for 40 percent of fatal work injuries. (See chart 2.) Falls, slips, or trips was the second-most frequent type of event (17 percent), followed by violence and other injuries by persons or animals (16 percent) and contact with objects and equipment (14 percent).

Industry

The private construction industry sector had the highest number of workplace fatalities in New York City with 20, little changed from the previous year. Building construction accounted for 11, or 55 percent, of the fatal injuries in this industry.

The trade, transportation, and utilities sector had 18 workplace fatalities, up from 10 in the previous year. (See table 2.) Transportation and warehousing accounted for eight, or 44 percent, of the sector’s fatal injuries. Transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal event in trade, transportation, and utilities with six worker deaths, followed by falls, slips, trips and violence, each of which were involved in four fatalities.

Occupation

Construction and extraction occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities (22). (See table 3.) The majority of the fatal injuries within the construction and extraction group occurred to construction trades workers (20). Transportation and material moving workers (15) had the next highest number of workplace fatalities, followed by sales and related (7) and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance (5).

Contracted workers

A contractor is defined as a worker employed by one firm but working at the behest of another firm that exercises overall responsibility for the operations at the site of the fatal injury. In 2017, New York City had 19 fatally-injured workers identified as fitting the contractor criteria, little changed from the prior year.

Additional highlights
  • Men accounted for 89 percent of the work-related fatalities in New York City, compared to 93 percent nationwide. (See table 4.) Fall, slips, trips made up 39 percent of the fatalities for men in New York City.
  • Hispanics or Latinos accounted for 28 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 18 percent of work-related deaths.
  • Workers 55 years old and over accounted for 45 percent of the city’s work-related fatalities in 2017, compared to 37 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
  • Of the 87 fatally injured workers in New York City, 73, or 84 percent, worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers was falls, slips, or trips. For the 14 self-employed workers, nine of the incidents involved violence and other injuries by persons or animals.

Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the BLS Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS) program, compiles a count of all fatal work injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. The CFOI program uses diverse state, federal, and independent data sources to identify, verify, and describe fatal work injuries. This ensures counts are as complete and accurate as possible. For the 2017 national data, over 23,400 unique source documents were reviewed as part of the data collection process. For technical information and definitions for CFOI, please go to the BLS Handbook of Methods on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch9.pdf.

Federal/State agency coverage. The CFOI includes data for all fatal work injuries, even those that may be outside the scope of other agencies or regulatory coverage. Thus, any comparison between the BLS fatality census counts and those released by other agencies should take into account the different coverage requirements and definitions being used by each agency. More on the scope of CFOI can be found atwww.bls.gov/iif/cfoiscope.htm.

Acknowledgments. The Bureau of Labor Statistics appreciates the efforts of all federal, state, local, and private sector entities that submitted source documents used to identify fatal work injuries, in particular the New York City government.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, New York City, 2016–17
Event or exposure (1)20162017
NumberNumberPercent

Total

5687100

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals

202428

Intentional injury by person

202428

Homicides (Intentional injury by other person)

121315

Shooting by other person--intentional

41011

Stabbing, cutting, slashing, piercing

4----

Strangulation by other person

2----

Bombing, arson

--11

Suicides (Self-inflicted injury--intentional)

81113

Hanging, strangulation, asphyxiation--intentional self-harm

545

Jumping from building or other structure--intentional self-harm

--56

Transportation incidents

71113

Aircraft incidents

1----

Other in-flight crash

1----

Other in-flight crash due to mechanical failure

1----

Pedestrian vehicular incident

333

Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle

167

Roadway collision with other vehicle

--33

Roadway collision with object other than vehicle

1----

Vehicle struck object or animal on side of roadway

1----

Falls, slips, trips

133136

Falls on same level

--45

Falls to lower level

112731

Fall from collapsing structure or equipment

--45

Other fall to lower level

82023

Other fall to lower level less than 6 feet

--56

Other fall to lower level 11 to 15 feet

--45

Other fall to lower level more than 30 feet

456

Exposure to harmful substances or environments

51416

Exposure to other harmful substances

41113

Nonmedical use of drugs or alcohol--unintentional overdose

41113

Contact with objects and equipment

978

Struck by object or equipment

567

Struck by powered vehicle--nontransport

1----

Struck or run over by rolling powered vehicle

1----

Struck by falling object or equipment--other than powered vehicle

445

Footnotes:
(1) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 2.01 implemented for 2011 data forward.

Note: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, New York City, 2016–17
Industry (1)20162017
NumberNumberPercent

Total

5687100

Private industry

477789

Construction

212023

Construction

212023

Construction of buildings

41113

Residential building construction

378

Residential building construction

378

Residential remodelers

--45

Nonresidential building construction

--33

Commercial and institutional building construction

--33

Specialty trade contractors

13910

Foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors

433

Building equipment contractors

345

Electrical contractors

--45

Other building equipment contractors

3----

Other specialty trade contractors

4----

All other specialty trade contractors

3----

Manufacturing

--45

Manufacturing

--45

Trade, transportation, and utilities

101821

Wholesale trade

--45

Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods

--33

Grocery and related product wholesalers

--33

Retail trade

867

Electronics and appliance stores

2----

Electronics and appliance stores

2----

Electronics and appliance stores

2----

Electronics stores

2----

Food and beverage stores

233

Grocery stores

133

Supermarkets and other grocery (except convenience) stores

1----

Beer, wine, and liquor stores

1----

Transportation and warehousing

--89

Transit and ground passenger transportation

--33

Taxi and limousine service

--33

Taxi service

--33

Scenic and sightseeing transportation

--11

Scenic and sightseeing transportation, land

--11

Information

1----

Information

1----

Telecommunications

1----

Wired telecommunications carriers

1----

Financial activities

--78

Finance and insurance

------

Credit intermediation and related activities

------

Nondepository credit intermediation

------

Other nondepository credit intermediation

------

Consumer lending

--11

Real estate and rental and leasing

--56

Real estate

--56

Professional and business services

31011

Professional and technical services

--33

Professional, scientific, and technical services

--33

Administrative and waste services

--78

Administrative and support services

--78

Investigation and security services

1----

Investigation, guard, and armored car services

1----

Security guards and patrol services

1----

Services to buildings and dwellings

--56

Janitorial services

--45

Educational and health services

--67

Health care and social assistance

--67

Ambulatory health care services

--45

Social assistance

1----

Community food and housing, and emergency and other relief services

1----

Community housing services

1----

Temporary shelters

1----

Leisure and hospitality

656

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

1----

Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions

1----

Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions

1----

Museums

1----

Accommodation and food services

533

Food services and drinking places

433

Restaurants and other eating places

4----

Restaurants and other eating places

4----

Other services, except public administration

--45

Other services, except public administration

--45

Government (2)

91011

State government

356

Local government

556

Footnotes:
(1) Industry data are based on the North American Industry Classification System, 2012.
(2) Includes fatal injuries to workers employed by governmental organizations regardless of industry.

Note: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, New York City, 2016–17
Occupation (1)20162017
NumberNumberPercent

Total

5687100

Management occupations

--33

Business and financial operations occupations

------

Computer and mathematical occupations

------

Architecture and engineering occupations

1----

Architects, surveyors, and cartographers

1----

Architects, except naval

1----

Architects, except landscape and naval

1----

Life, physical, and social science occupations

------

Community and social service occupations

------

Legal occupations

------

Education, training, and library occupations

------

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations

------

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

--33

Healthcare support occupations

------

Protective service occupations

645

Other protective service workers

4----

Security guards and gaming surveillance officers

3----

Security guards

3----

Food preparation and serving related occupations

--33

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

356

Building cleaning and pest control workers

--33

Building cleaning workers

--33

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners

--33

Personal care and service occupations

------

Sales and related occupations

678

Supervisors of sales workers

--33

First-line supervisors of sales workers

--33

Retail sales workers

3----

Cashiers

1----

Cashiers

1----

Office and administrative support occupations

--33

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations

------

Construction and extraction occupations

182225

Construction trades workers

142023

Carpenters

--33

Carpenters

--33

Construction laborers

1289

Construction laborers

1289

Electricians

--56

Electricians

--56

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

645

Supervisors of installation, maintenance, and repair workers

1----

First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers

1----

First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers

1----

Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

4----

Line installers and repairers

1----

Telecommunications line installers and repairers

1----

Production occupations

--45

Transportation and material moving occupations

71517

Air transportation workers

1----

Aircraft pilots and flight engineers

1----

Commercial pilots

1----

Motor vehicle operators

--1214

Driver/sales workers and truck drivers

--45

Taxi drivers and chauffeurs

--45

Taxi drivers and chauffeurs

--45

Material moving workers

3----

Footnotes:
(1) Occupation data are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, 2010.

Note: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, New York City, 2016–17
Worker characteristics20162017
NumberNumberPercent

Total

5687100

Employee status

Wage and salary workers (1)

507384

Self-employed (2)

61416

Gender

Men

547789

Women

--1011

Age (3)

20 to 24 years

3----

25 to 34 years

91113

35 to 44 years

131821

45 to 54 years

141720

55 to 64 years

142630

65 years and over

31315

Race or ethnic origin (4)

White, non-Hispanic

184147

Black or African-American, non-Hispanic

14910

Hispanic or Latino

202428

Asian, non-Hispanic

41113

Footnotes:
(1) May include volunteers and workers receiving other types of compensation.
(2) Includes self-employed workers, owners of unincorporated businesses and farms, paid and unpaid family workers, and may include some owners of incorporated businesses or members of partnerships.
(3) Information may not be available for all age groups.
(4) Persons identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. The race categories shown exclude Hispanic and Latino workers.

Note: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, January 10, 2019