Recently, the National Safety Council held their Congress & Expo, billed as the country’s largest gathering of safety professionals. As part of that, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released their top 10 most frequently cited workplace violations for fiscal year 2018.
The list is preliminary at this time, but provides a good snapshot of on-the-job hazards across the nation.
10. Eye and face protection – this is a newcomer to the list, but OSHA reports more than 1,500 violations so far this year for job sites around the country where people were not wearing proper face and eye protection. This can include construction sites, welding, working around hazardous chemicals and more.
9. Machine guarding – OSHA has found 1,972 instances of inadequate, missing or unconnected machine guards in machine shops and manufacturing facilities across America so far this year.
8. Fall protection (training) – over 1,980 companies got citations in 2018 for not having adequate fall protection training protocols or documentation that training had occurred.
7. Powered industrial truck violations – nearly 2,300 businesses had unlicensed or uncertified forklift drivers on job sites.
6. Improper ladder use – more than 2,800 citations came for improper ladder use in the first 10 months of this year. This includes using the top step of the ladder, not having ladders secured on construction sites, broken steps and ladders “not being used as intended.”
5. Lockout/tagout – though this is a known practice throughout many industries, almost 3,000 employers did not have adequate protocols for energy control of dangerous equipment when not in use.
4. Respiratory protection – over 3,100 citations came as a result of employers not offering protective equipment, not having respiratory protection programs in place, and not requiring medical evaluations for workers.
3. Scaffolds – scaffold safety is exceedingly important as a means of fall protection for workers, but still more than 3,300 workplaces were cited for inadequate scaffold construction, decking and more.
2. Hazard communication – auto shops and hotels were among the 4,552 businesses cited for insufficient training programs regarding hazards and non-existent data sheets signifying compliance with hazard communication.
1. Fall protection (general) – this is yet again the top OSHA citation, with more than 7,200 violations so far in 2018.
