Top 10 Most Frequently Cited OSHA Violations in 2016

A list of the top 10 most frequently cited safety and health violations issued by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was released for the fiscal year of 2016, composed from data on about 32,000 inspections conducted by the agency.

“One remarkable thing about the list is that it rarely changes,” said Thomas Galassi, director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs (DEP), in a blog post announcing the release of the list. “Year after year, our inspectors see thousands of the same on-the job hazards, any one of which could result in a fatality or severe injury.”

Each year, more than 4500 workers are killed in occupational circumstances and three million workers are injured, according to OHSA.

The top 10 safety and health violations issued by OSHA in FY2016 were:

1.)   Fall Protection
2.)   Hazard Communication
3.)   Scaffolds
4.)   Respiratory Protection
5.)   Lockout/Tagout
6.)   Powered Industrial Trucks
7.)   Ladders
8.)   Machine Guarding
9.)   Electrical Wiring
10.) Electrical, General Requirements

“We are seeing far too many workers killed or gruesomely injured when machinery starts up suddenly while being repaired, or hands and fingers are exposed to moving parts,” wrote Galassi. “Lockout/tagout and machine guarding violations are often the culprit here. Proper lockout/tagout procedures ensure that machines are powered off and can’t be turned off while someone is working on them.”

“And installing guards to keep hands, feet, and other appendages away from moving machinery prevents amputations and worse,” he said.

The agency said the list is “far from comprehensive” as OSHA regulations cover a range of hazards. Employers are recommended to go to OSHA’s website to view the agency’s recommendations on creating a safety and health program and other resources.

“If all employers simply corrected the top 10 hazards, we are confident the number of deaths, amputations, and hospitalizations would drastically decline,” said Galassi. “Consider this list a starting point for workplace safety.”

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