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News Release Information

22-452-NEW
Monday, March 14, 2022

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

Fatal Occupational Injuries in New York City — 2020

Fatal work injuries totaled 59 in 2020 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 was down from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the city have ranged from a high of 191 in 1993 to a low of 56 in 2013 and 2016.

Nationwide, a total of 4,764 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2020, an 11-percent decrease from 5,333 in 2019, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). The 4,764 fatal occupational injuries in 2020 represents the lowest annual number since 2013.

Fatal event or exposure

In New York City, exposure to harmful substances or environments resulted in 17 fatal work injuries, and falls, slips, trips and violence and other injuries by persons or animals each accounted for 13 fatalities. These three major categories accounted for 73 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the city. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from exposure to harmful substances or environments were unchanged over the year, and worker fatalities due to falls, slips, trips and violence or other injuries by persons or animals were down from 24 and 21, respectively.

Fatal contact with objects and equipment was the next most frequent event with 7 worker deaths, down from 17 in the prior year. 

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2020, accounting for 37 percent of fatal work injuries. Falls, slips, trips were the second-most common fatal event (17 percent).

Industry

The private construction industry sector had the highest number of fatalities in New York City with 13, down from 24 in the previous year. (See table 2.) Falls, slips, and trips resulted in 5 of the industry’s 13 fatalities. The specialty trade contractors subsector accounted for 8 of the 13 fatal workplace injuries in construction.

Retail trade had seven worker fatalities, up from five in 2019. Violence and other injuries by persons and animals accounted for 4 of the 7 deaths.

Two sectors—transportation and warehousing and accommodation and food services—each had six work fatalities in 2020. For the transportation and warehousing sector, the total was down from 16 in the previous year. The fatality count for accommodation and food services was unchanged.

Occupation

The construction and extraction occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 13, down from 29 in the previous year. (See table 3.) Transportation and material moving workers had the second highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 10, down from 19.

Additional highlights
  • Hispanic or Latino workers accounted for 39 percent of New York City’s fatal injuries. (See table 4.) Nationwide, this group accounted for 23 percent of work-related deaths.

  • Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 64 percent of the city’s work-related fatalities in 2020, compared to 56 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.

  • Of the 59 worker deaths in New York City, 86 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. Nationwide, 81 percent of occupational fatalities involved wage and salary workers. 

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic and the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

CFOI reports fatal workplace injuries only. These may include fatal workplace injuries complicated by an illness such as COVID-19. Fatal workplace illnesses not precipitated by an injury are not in scope for CFOI. CFOI does not report any illness related information, including COVID-19. Additional information is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-on-workplace-injuries-and-illnesses-compensation-and-occupational-requirements.htm.


Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS) program, is a count of all fatalities resulting from workplace injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. The CFOI uses a variety of 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 2020 national data, over 21,600 unique source documents were reviewed as part of the data collection process. For technical information and definitions for the CFOI, see the BLS Handbook of Methods at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/home.htm and the CFOI definitions at www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm

Federal/State agency coverage. The CFOI includes data for all fatal work injuries, some of which may be outside the scope of other agencies or regulatory coverage. Comparisons between CFOI counts and those released by other agencies should account for the different coverage requirements and definitions used by each agency. For more information on the scope of CFOI, see www.bls.gov/iif/cfoiscope.htm and www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the New York City government for their efforts in collecting accurate, comprehensive, and useful data on fatal work injuries. BLS also appreciates the efforts of all federal, state, local, and private sector entities that provided source documents used to identify fatal work injuries. Among these agencies are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the National Transportation Safety Board; the U.S. Coast Guard; the Mine Safety and Health Administration; the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (Federal Employees' Compensation and Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation divisions); the Federal Railroad Administration; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; state vital statistics registrars, coroners, and medical examiners; state departments of health, labor, and industrial relations and workers' compensation agencies; state and local police departments; and state farm bureaus.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, New York City, 2019–20
Event or exposure (1)20192020
NumberNumberPercent

Total

9159100

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals

211322

Intentional injury by person

151322

Intentional injury by other person

10712

Shooting by other person--intentional

535

Self-inflicted injury--intentional

5610

Transportation incidents

10----

Fires and explosions

------

Falls, slips, trips

241322

Falls to lower level

211322

Fall through surface or existing opening

535

Other fall to lower level

141017

Other fall to lower level more than 30 feet

--47

Exposure to harmful substances or environments

171729

Contact with objects and equipment

17712

Struck by object or equipment

1147

Overexertion and bodily reaction

------

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. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, New York City, 2019–20
Industry (1)20192020
NumberNumberPercent

Total

9159100

Private industry (2)

845593

Goods producing

------

Natural resources and mining

------

Construction

241322

Construction

241322

Specialty trade contractors

--814

Building equipment contractors

--47

Manufacturing

--35

Manufacturing

--35

Service providing (3)

------

Trade, transportation, and utilities

23----

Retail trade

5712

Food and beverage stores

--58

Grocery stores

--58

Transportation and warehousing

16610

Information

------

Financial activities

------

Real estate and rental and leasing

--35

Professional and business services

--47

Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services

--47

Administrative and support services

--47

Educational and health services

--47

Health care and social assistance

547

Leisure and hospitality

------

Accommodation and food services

6610

Other services, except public administration

635

Other services, except public administration

635

Government (4)

747

Federal government

------

State government

------

Local government

747

Footnotes:
(1) CFOI has used several versions of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) since 2003 to define industry. For complete information on the version of NAICS used in this year, see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm.
(2) Cases where ownership is unknown are included in private industry counts.
(3) Cases where industry is unknown are included in the service sector counts.
(4) Includes fatal injuries to workers employed by governmental organizations regardless of industry. Cases classified as foreign government and other government are included in all government counts, but not displayed separately.

Note: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, New York City, 2019–20
Occupation (1)20192020
NumberNumberPercent

Total

9159100

Management occupations

4----

Business and financial operations occupations

------

Computer and mathematical occupations

------

Architecture and engineering occupations

------

Life, physical, and social science occupations

------

Community and social service occupations

------

Legal occupations

------

Educational instruction and library occupations

------

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations

------

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

3----

Healthcare support occupations

------

Protective service occupations

7----

Food preparation and serving related occupations

347

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

4610

Supervisors of building and grounds cleaning and maintenance workers

--35

First-line supervisors of building and grounds cleaning and maintenance workers

--35

Personal care and service occupations

------

Sales and related occupations

358

Retail sales workers

135

Cashiers

--35

Cashiers

--35

Office and administrative support occupations

3----

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations

------

Construction and extraction occupations

291322

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

647

Production occupations

347

Transportation and material moving occupations

191017

Material moving workers

558

Footnotes:
(1) CFOI has used several versions of the Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) system since 2003 to define occupation. For complete information on the version of SOC used in this year, see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Cases where occupation is unknown are included in the total.

Note: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, New York City, 2019–20
Worker characteristics20192020
NumberNumberPercent

Total

9159100

Employee status

Wage and salary workers (1)

845186

Self-employed (2)

7814

Gender

Men

81----

Women

10----

Age (3)

20 to 24 years

558

25 to 34 years

171119

35 to 44 years

161627

45 to 54 years

121119

55 to 64 years

28814

65 years and over

13814

Race or ethnic origin (4)

White, non-Hispanic

241831

Black or African-American, non-Hispanic

161119

Hispanic or Latino

292339

Footnotes:
(1) May include volunteers and workers receiving other types of compensation. Cases where employment status is unknown are included in the counts of wage and salary workers.
(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 data for Hispanics and Latinos. Cases where ethnicity is unknown are included in counts of non-Hispanic workers.

Note: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

 

Last Modified Date: Monday, March 14, 2022