In 2016, these were the top 10 most frequently cited standards by OSHA.
OSHA FACT:
The number 1 violation in 2015 as well, fall protection accounted for almost 7,000 citations last year from OSHA. Almost 39% of all construction deaths in 2015 were attributed to falls.
This is a frequent top-10 violation because improper labeling is easy for inspectors to spot. New regulations went into effect in 2016 regarding labeling and employee training regarding this area.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 65% of the construction industry works on scaffolds. There were more than 3,900 violations in 2016.
An estimated 5 million workers are required to wear respirators in 1.3 million workplaces in the U.S. More than 3,800 violations were issued in 2016.
In 2015, there were more than $9 million in OSHA fines for lockout/tagout violations, and more than 3,400 violations in 2016.
It’s not just an OSHA violation but also a violation of federal law for anyone under age 18 to operate a forklift or over age 18 who is not properly trained to do so.
More than half of “ladder” citations are for “portable ladder access,” regarding the height of a ladder used to gain access to an upper landing surface.
More than half of the almost 2,500 annual machine guarding violations are for missing machine guarding, required to protect employees from crushed fingers, hands, amputations, flying debris, and more.
More than 1,900 violations in 2016 were in the area of “wiring methods,” which includes grounding of electrical equipment, and temporary wiring and splicing.
There were more than 1,700 violations in 2016 in this category, which covers general safety requirements for designing electrical systems. This was also on OSHA’s top-10 list in 2015.
