There are some fatal work accidents that never happen in New York City but occur elsewhere in the state. In September of 2014, for example, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported that a farm worker was killed by a hay bailer while trying to clear a jam in the machine. This type of accident is not likely to happen in the city.
However, other recent worker deaths in the state could just as easily have happened in NYC. For example, on September 20, a worker was killed in a fall from a roof in Farmingdale. Falls account for 36 percent of construction accidents in the United States, and New York City follows that pattern. For example, during August of this year, a worker in Rockaway died after a roof fall.
Another upstate fatality occurred on September 11, when a worker in Johnstown was electrocuted after a boom lift hit a power line. An earlier electrocution occurred at the end of August, when a worker in Hammondsport was killed when a dump truck came in contact with power lines on August 25. An electrocution is certainly something that could easily happen in the city, especially in the outer boroughs where electrical lines are less likely to be buried.
Another workplace fatality in September involved a worker who fell from a horse at the Brown Racing Stable in Elmont. There are still horses in use in New York City. For example, police often ride horses in the city when working crowd control. There are the famous horse-drawn carriages that attract tourists and lovers. And there is a race track in New York City – Aqueduct, in South Ozone Park, Queens. All these factors mean that worker injuries involving horses are still possible in New York City.
Given that New York City is surrounded by water, drowning injuries are not unexpected. On September 1, the owner of Montauk Marine Basin on Long Island drowned when he fell from a dock. In short, except for agricultural fatalities, worker deaths in New York City have the same causes as worker deaths anywhere else in New York State.