THE TOP 5 MOST CITED OSHA VIOLATIONS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM
Learning about the most common OSHA violations and how they are classified will help you adjust your business model to avoid expensive fines, increase employee safety, and decrease time lost from accidents and investigations.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) classifies violations of its safety rules and regulations into one of five categories:
Serious Violations
“Other Than” Serious Violation
Willful Violations
Repeated Violations
Failure to Correct Prior Violations
Any of these violations can result in fines of up to $250,000 and possible disruption of your company’s operations. You can avoid these fines and disruptions by ensuring that your employees are properly trained in OSHA safety regulations.
The 5 Most Common OSHA Violations
Use this list of common OSHA violations as a bird’s-eye overview of how your company would fair during an audit. Are you making mistakes that could lead to an expensive citation?
1. Inadequate Fall Protection (1926.501) – 6,721
Slips and falls on construction sites and in manufacturing plants are the number one reason employers receive OSHA citations. According to OSHA guidelines, you must determine if working and walking surfaces have the structural integrity and strength to safely support your employees.
Guardrail systems, personal fall arrest systems, and safety net systems must be in place before you allow your employees to work in areas of higher elevation. Employees using a hoist must also be protected from falling six feet or more by personal fall arrest or guardrail systems.
2. Minimal or Missing Hazard Communication (1910.1200) – 5,192
To avoid violations of hazard communication, you must ensure that the labels on hazardous chemical containers have not been defaced or removed and that the safety data sheets associated with these chemicals are accessible to your employees during each shift.
You, as the employer, must also provide OSHA-approved training to any employee handling hazardous chemicals. The improper handling and disposal of hazardous waste are a health risk to both your employees and your community.
3. Unsafe Scaffolding (1926.451) – 4,295
Scaffolds and scaffolding components that are incapable of supporting their own weight plus four times the weight of its maximum intended load (workers) are a commonly cited OSHA violation. In addition, suspension ropes and all connecting hardware should support six times or more the maximum intended load transmitted or applied to the rope holding up the scaffolding.
4. Improper Respiratory Protection (1910.134) – 3,305
If you fail to provide your employees with the equipment necessary to protect their health, you could be issued an OSHA citation. Respiratory protection is essential for employees working around harmful gases, dust, smokes, vapors, fogs, and sprays.
OSHA lists dozens of different respiratory protectors that are expected to be used by employees working in specific hazardous situations. Some of these respirators include positive pressure, supplied air, and pressure demand respirators. If OSHA finds your employees are not wearing the correct type of respirator according to their guidelines, you will be cited and fined. Familiarize yourself with the proper respiratory protection for your industry’s work environment and implement the correct regulations accordingly.
5. Lockout/Tagout (1910.147) – 3,002
This violation can occur when unexpected energization or startup of your business’s machines or equipment could harm an employee. This is an important regulation for the safety of employees who are required to repair or service heavy equipment and for employees who have to work in proximity to conductors and other electrical hazards.
To avoid injury, you must utilize both lockout devices – a device that ensures machinery cannot be powered on until the device is removed – and a tagout device – a tag that clearly indicates the use of an energy isolating device. Tagouts ensure that machinery is not used until the device blocking power is safely removed.
Preventing OSHA Violations
Although OSHA representatives may seem overly exacting during an inspection, these common OSHA violations are all avoidable job hazards that can be prevented with the proper training and instruction from a qualified safety consultation firm.
For more information about OSHA training, contact SEA Inc. at 501-568-3111 to speak with one of our certified trainers.
A Quick Guide for Industrial and Manufacturing Facilities By Keina Jennings, CEO/CFO, SEA
By Don Harkness, East Coast Regional Manager, SEA Ladder Inspection Safety At-A-Glance Ladders of all types are useful in the workplace. They are tools that allow workers to safely reach another level. Working at elevated levels poses plenty of risks, ones that have been covered in many regulatory training courses you have attended. Walking, Working Surfaces and Fall protection all focus heavily on the different hazards, of which SEA would be honored to share with you, but today, I want to focus on what needs to happen prior to using the ladder. The Right Tool for the Job And make no mistake, ladders are tools, and only perform as well as we, the operators, allow them to. So, what do we need to consider when picking the right ladder for our job? Several key factors include, but aren’t limited to: What are we doing? What style do you need? Step Ladders, extension ladders, and platform ladders all serve different purposes! What is the weight limit of my ladder? Note that the weight limit includes you and all the tools/equipment you are wearing, including fall protection! What height do I need my ladder to be? Ladders come in all shapes and sizes, so ensure you pick one that allows you to not put yourself at risk, even if it takes a little extra time to go and get it! What material should my ladder be made of? Most ladders are fiberglass but also come in several other materials. Make sure you plan for the task and don’t pick a metal ladder when working with electricity, for example The Most Important Step After choosing the ladder for our task, we need to perform an all-around inspection of the ladder. How often do we need to perform this inspection? Does it need to be documented? Ladders must be inspected before every use to ensure that no damage has occurred. As far as documentation goes, it is required that a documented inspection occur once a year, but your company policy can dictate more frequent documented inspections.
By Alison Jennings, VP Operations, SEA Sometimes it takes a real-life moment to remind us how quickly routine tasks can turn into injuries. Recently, I had a reminder of just how quickly something simple can turn into an injury. I was hanging a picture frame at home. Nothing complicated—just one of those quick projects you knock out in a few minutes. I picked the frame up by the sides to move it into position. As I lifted it, the bottom of the frame suddenly gave out. The glass dropped straight down and landed directly on the top of my bare foot. Within seconds, what started as a simple task turned into a trip to urgent care. The cut was deep enough that I ended up needing eight stitches. Looking back, there were a few things I didn’t think about in that moment. I was barefoot. I didn’t consider the possibility that the frame might break. I didn’t think about what could happen if the glass slipped or fell. It really wasn’t a dangerous job. I wasn’t using power tools or heavy equipment. I was just hanging a picture. But that’s the reality of many injuries—they don’t happen during obviously dangerous activities. They happen during everyday tasks when we assume nothing will go wrong.