The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced on September 10 at the National Safety Council 2019 Congress & Expo in San Diego, California, that “fall protection — general requirements” is the most frequently cited standard for the ninth consecutive year.
The rest of the preliminary list of OSHA’s top 10 violations for fiscal year 2019 also remained largely unchanged from fiscal year 2018, with only one minor adjustment. Lockout/tagout, which ranked fifth in FY 2018, climbed one spot to No. 4, trading places with respiratory protection.
The full list is as follows.
- Fall protection — general requirements (1926.501): 6,010 violations
- Hazard communication (1910.1200): 3,671
- Scaffolding (1926.451): 2,813
- Lockout/tagout (1910.147): 2,606
- Respiratory protection (1910.134): 2,450
- Ladders (1926.1053): 2,345
- Powered industrial trucks (1910.178): 2,093
- Fall protection — training requirements (1926.503): 1,773
- Machine guarding (1910.212): 1,743
- Personal protective and lifesaving equipment — eye and face protection (1926.102): 1,411
“Far too many preventable injuries and deaths occur on the job,” NSC President and CEO Lorraine M. Martin said. “The OSHA Top 10 list is a helpful guide for understanding just how adept America’s businesses are in complying with the basic rules of workplace safety. This list should serve as a challenge for us to do better as a nation and expect more from employers. It should also serve as a catalyst for individual employees to recommit to safety.”