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Falls Again Top OSHA Violations
Employers may not be getting the message about fall protection, according to a new ranking that keeps those violations well atop a new Top 10 list of federal health and safety citations.
The same could be said for hazard communication, scaffolding and respiratory protection which, respectively, round out the top four slots in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's most-cited workplace safety violations for FY 2013.
Moreover, the number of violations issued this year in each of those categories increased significantly over last year, according to preliminary data released Tuesday (Oct. 1) at the 2013 National Safety Council Congress & Expo in Chicago.
The other six categories in the Top 10 remained the same as last year, although individual positions shifted somewhat.
The preliminary figures for FY 2013, and their comparable numbers at this time last year, according to the National Safety Council, are:
| Rank | Standard | Total Violations | |
| FY2013 | FY2012 (rank) | ||
| 1. | 1926.501 – Fall Protection | 8,241 | 7,250 (1) |
| 2. | 1910.1200 – Hazard Communication | 6,156 | 4,696 (2) |
| 3. | 1926.451 – Scaffolding | 5,423 | 3,814 (3) |
| 4. | 1910.134 – Respiratory Protection | 3,879 | 2,371 (4) |
| 5. | 1910.305 – Electrical, Wiring Methods | 3,452 | 1,744 (8) |
| 6. | 1910.178 – Powered Industrial Trucks | 3,340 | 1.993 (7) |
| 7. | 1926.1053 – Ladders | 3,311 | 2,310 (5) |
| 8. | 1910.147 – Lockout/Tagout | 3,254 | 1,572 (9) |
| 9. | 1910.303 – Electrical, General Requirements | 2,745 | 1,332 (10) |
| 10. | 1910.212 – Machine Guarding | 2,701 | 2,097 (6) |
The data were collected on Sept. 13.
Violations in each of the Top 10 categories increased over last year, the National Safety Council reported.
Falls and Their Toll
Both scaffolding and ladder citations significantly increased over last year, with the three fall-related categories accounting for a total of 16,975 violations this fiscal year—3,601 more violations in those combined categories than in FY 2012.
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| NIOSH |
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The Campaign to Prevent Falls, a government-labor-management partnership, was launched in 2012. |
Falls are among the most common causes of serious work-related injuries and deaths, and they are the leading cause of worker deaths in construction and related industries. More than 10,000 construction workers are seriously injured each year in falls, and more than one-third of construction deaths involve falls, according to CPWR: The Center for Construction Research and Training.
OSHA has greatly expanded its fall-protection outreach and resources for employers and employees in recent years. The agency's Fall Protection Safety and Health Topic site offers detailed print and video guidance and standards for a wide variety of fall hazards, including specific resources aimed at roof falls, aerial lift safety, bridge decking, leading edge work, and more.
More resources are available through OSHA's Fall Prevention Campaign site, and through the Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction, a joint initiative launched in April 2012 by OSHA, CPWR and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
'Learn from the Past'
"We appreciate our colleagues at OSHA sharing their most recent data as we look toward Leading Safety into the Future," said National Safety Council President and CEO Janet Froetscher.
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| Oklahoma State University |
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A growing number of hazard communication violations kept that category at No. 2 on OSHA's Top 10 list of workplace violations in FY 2013. |
"Today's presentation reminds us that it's very important to learn from the past and address these top violations to help make our workplaces safer."
The Council will publish a full report on the Top 10 violations for 2013 in the December edition of Safety+Health magazine.
