Dive Brief:

• Almost as many people have died in New York City construction accidents so far this year as during all of 2014.

• Construction accidents killed eight people in 2014—double 2013’s death toll. Since January of this year, seven have lost their lives either on the job or because they were near a job site where a mishap occurred, according to a Crain’s New York Business analysis of the city’s Department of Buildings data.

• One worker died on Monday on a construction site in the city’s meatpacking district, and four workers were injured on Tuesday during an accident at a demolition site. Two people—not workers—died after a suspicious explosion this week in an apartment building where plumbers were working on gas lines. And a pedestrian died after a piece of plywood that came loose from construction barrier hit her in the head. The others were on-the-job accidents in which the victims fell down elevator shafts or were crushed by falling objects, according to Crain’s.

Dive Insight:

In 2008, during the peak of the real estate boom, 19 people died as a result of construction accidents. Although the number of deaths was substantially lower last year, the number of accidents has climbed from 151 in 2008 to 231 in 2014—an increase of more than 50%, Crain’s reported.

And last year, the city issued 20% more building permits than it did in 2008.

Combined with the deaths-to-date this year, the potential for increasing construction activity “puts this year on track to be another fatal one,” Crain’s reported.