McCabe in the News: Construction Industry Has Lion's Share of NC Workplace Deaths

Attorney John M. McCabe was featured in Carolina Public Press for a report on North Carolina workplace deaths, which found that construction accounts for more fatalities than any other industry in the state. McCabe spoke to a hard truth behind the numbers: too many contractors treat safety as an afterthought instead of a first step.

The report put a spotlight on a problem that rarely makes headlines until someone is killed. Construction work builds the Triangle and the rest of the state, and it also buries more workers than any other line of work here. McCabe's comments cut to why.

What the Report Found

The Carolina Public Press investigation laid out sobering figures. Nearly 60 construction workers died on the job in North Carolina between January 2021 and September 2023. Since 2009, the state has recorded more than 250 construction deaths. No other industry comes close.

The danger does not fall evenly. Latino workers made up more than a quarter of the state's workplace fatalities while making up only about 10 percent of the population. That gap points to a workforce carrying more than its share of the risk.

The Case Behind the Coverage

The report centered on a January 2021 collapse in Henderson County, where a retaining wall gave way, killing one worker and seriously injuring several others. The general contractor, according to the reporting, never properly assessed whether the new wall could bear the load it was built to hold.

McCabe represents Magno Alberto Valdez Sanchez, one of the workers badly hurt when the wall came down. It is the kind of case that turns a statistic into a person, a family, and a life changed in an instant.

McCabe's Take: Safety Cannot Be an Afterthought

Asked why contractors so often skip the upfront safety work, McCabe was blunt: "Why don't they do it on the front end? They're trying to cut corners."

That is the heart of it. The assessments, the engineering checks, the protections that keep a wall standing or a trench from caving, they cost time and money. When a company treats them as optional, the savings land in the budget and the risk lands on the workers.

The pattern McCabe describes is one he sees repeatedly. Safety gets a serious look only after someone is hurt, when the review should have happened before the first shovel hit the ground. By then, the harm is already done.

Why It Matters for North Carolina Workers

Behind every figure in that report is a worker who left for a job site and did not come home the same, or did not come home at all. Construction pays the bills for thousands of North Carolina families, and it should not cost them a parent or a spouse because a contractor rushed.

Injured workers and grieving families are not powerless. Between workers' compensation and, in many cases, a claim against a negligent contractor or third party, the law offers real paths to accountability and support. Knowing those options exist is the first step toward using them.

Hurt on a Construction Site? McCabe Law Offices Is Ready to Help

The workers in this report were failed by companies that treated safety as something to get to later. When that carelessness leaves a worker injured or a family without a loved one, holding the right parties responsible can make a lasting difference. The Law Offices of John M. McCabe, P.A. stands up for North Carolina's injured workers and speaks plainly about why these tragedies keep happening. Reach out for a free consultation, with no fee owed unless there is a recovery.

Read the full Carolina Public Press report: Construction industry has lion's share of NC workplace deaths.