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The national decline in construction industry deaths could reflect the overall fall off in construction work, say industry observers.

The U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that workplace deaths dropped 10.6 percent around the country in 2008, but rose 11.1 percent in New York City, spurred on by a deadly year in the city’s construction industry.

Though the fatality rate in the construction industry declined in 2008, the construction industry still experiences more fatalities per occupation than any industry in the private sector, says the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The events most frequently leading to construction worker fatalities from 1995 through 1999 were: falls (33%), transportation incidents (20%), contact with objects or equipment (19%), and exposure to harmful substances and environments (17%).

U.S. Labor Department’s 2008 preliminary statistics

The construction industry (local and national) dominated all job categories for work-related deaths in 2008, according to the Labor Department’s most recent report.

In New York City, there were 90 workplace deaths reported in 2008, up from 81 deaths in 2007; among them the lives of eight construction workers who died in NYC crane collapses in March and May, 2008.

Nationally, workplace deaths declined to 5,071 last year, from 5,671 in 2007. Among these, the number of fatalities in construction declined 20 percent, from 1,204 cases in 2007 to 969 cases last year.

Analysts suggest that the decline in national construction industry deaths could reflect the overall fall off in construction work.

In New York alone, construction spending is expected to fall by 20 percent this year to $25.8 billion, according to a report by the New York Building Congress, an industry trade group. The report said the industry lost 11,000 construction jobs this year.

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