OSHA's Top Cited Standards for 2024
Posted by Clarion Safety Systems | 18th Sep 2024
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Safety Council (NSC) have long stood as watchdogs for American businesses when it comes to safety regulations and guidance. Combined, OSHA and the NSC form quite the tag team – the former charged with setting and enforcing key safety mandates for businesses and the latter, in part of its work as the nation’s leading nonprofit safety advocate, hammering home the message through evidence-based best practices and statistics showcasing the effectiveness of safety initiatives and legislation.
OSHA’s Annual Top 10 Violations
List
Every year, though, whether due to avoidable mistakes or workplaces skirting
their safety standard adherence duties, OSHA violations occur. These breaches
to safety rules are chronicled and announced by OSHA annually in order for
workplaces to understand key areas to focus on to keep workers safer. OSHA
typically releases a preliminary "Top 10” list of the most frequently
cited safety violations for that fiscal year (FY) as part of NSC’s annual
Safety Congress and Expo.
One of the most troubling aspects of this list is the fact that, almost without fail over the past several years, the same violations come up again and again – many of them even in the same order, listed from the most to least common. This suggests that, for all the strides being made every day in the field of safety and regulatory oversight, many of the most common challenges have yet to be conquered.
Recapping Prior Year OSHA
Violation Lists
Take the 2016, 2017,
2018, and 2019 OSHA violation lists as examples. The top five most common
violations were identical: fall protection, hazard communication, scaffolding,
respiratory protection and lockout/tagout. Many of the following five
violations were also the same, just moving up or down in prevalence on the
list. For example, violations
1 and 2 in 2023 were the exact same topics as this year, and
fall protections have topped the list for 14 years in row. It’s a telling
benchmark that these top hazards are still a concern year over year, despite
OSHA’s push to communicate and regulate, as well as the shared goal of
increased safety for today’s workplaces and equipment manufacturers.
Top 10 OSHA Violations for FY
2024
On September 17, 2024, OSHA announced its preliminary ‘Top 10’ list of the most
frequently cited workplace safety violations for FY 2024. This year, the list
was presented through the NSC Safety Congress and Expo in Orlando, FL. Scott
Ketchan, director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, presented the
preliminary data.
Although multiple standards swapped positions, the top 10 violations from FY 2023 to FY 2024 did not change in their composition.
Here's a summary of the 2024 top violations – and some of the safety communication steps you can take to keep people in your workplace or who use your equipment safer. It’s important to remember that this list is preliminary for 2024, and only includes data through September 5, 2024; an in depth look will be provided with more statistics from OSHA in December later this year.
Violation #1: Fall Protection –
General Requirements
For the 14th consecutive
year, fall protection has topped the annual hazard list, with 6,307 safety
violations, preliminary numbers show that it has gone down from 7,271 last year
in 2023. The OSHA standard 1926.501 outlines fall protection system
requirements, designed to protect employees on walking or working surfaces with
an unprotected side or edge 6 feet off the ground or higher.
Clarion Safety Solution: Injuries that occur as a result of slips and falls are among the most common in the country, not just at the workplace. Safety warnings can inform workers, guests and contractors of potential unsafe slip and fall hazards, and reinforce and remind employees about proper safety procedures and personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements. Clarion Safety has the trip hazard signs and slip, trip and fall labels you need to send the right message in clear, concise ways.
Violation #2: Hazard
Communication
This violation stayed at the 2nd spot this year, with 2,888 violations so
far in 2024. When potentially harmful chemicals and/or substances are present,
it’s the job of business owners and product manufacturers to make this fact
apparent. Effective as of 2012, the 1910.1200 OSHA standard has been updated to
correspond with the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification
and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). And, OSHA’s intention is to continue to align its Hazard Communication Standard with GHS as
it evolves. It is important to note that the most recent Hazcom changes just
went into effect a few months ago in July, 2024. GHS establishes a common way
of communicating chemical hazard information including the use of a very
standardized approach to the content and structure of safety labels pertaining
to chemical products.
Clarion Safety Solution: It isn't enough to merely reference that chemicals are nearby; GHS graphical symbols help with quick, easy comprehension in a standardized manner. Clarion Safety has you covered with the GHS labels you need, with pictograms covering hazards and meanings like carcinogens, flammables, irritants, gases under pressure, explosives, skin corrosion/burns, oxidizers and aquatic toxicity. We can also meet your chemical safety labeling and signage needs.
Violation #3: Ladders
Ladders: they're so common in work environments, there’s an entire month devoted
to promoting how to use them properly – in addition to more general fall prevention awareness campaigns – given that
ladders are often developed differently depending on their function. OSHA
standard 1926.1053 outlines what some of these general safety requirements
include.
Clarion Safety Solution: Ascending steps or rungs come with risk, even when a few inches off the ground. You can communicate these potential dangers with Clarion Safety’s slip, trip, and fall safety signs.
Violation #4: Respiratory
Protection
At high elevations or in environments where air quality is less than stellar,
employers must utilize respiratory protection systems that reduce the risk of
inhaling fumes, smoke and mists. OSHA standard 1910.134 outlines these
requirements in more detail.
Clarion Safety Solution: Use personal protective equipment (PPE) signs to provide permanent visual reinforcement of your facility’s safety training policies requiring PPE, like respirators. Browse our PPE reinforcement signs now.
Violation #5: Lockout/Tagout
OSHA standard 1910.147
refers to injury risks that exist through the use of power equipment, such as
scroll saws or other machinery that use voltage. It requires employers to
establish a program and utilize procedures for affixing appropriate
lockout/tagout devices to energy isolating devices, and to disable machines or
equipment to prevent unexpected energization, start up or release of stored
energy in order to prevent injuries. You'll notice this 1910 standard as a recurring
theme in the violations list over the years, and the 2024 iteration was no
different. This year, lockout/tagout accounted for 2,443 violations.
Clarion Safety Solution: Devastating injuries can occur from electrical hazards. Proper identification of the nature of electrical hazards and specific avoidance procedures with warnings that give the viewer more information are key to making products and workplaces safer. Clarion Safety has the lockout/tagout safety labels, signs and tags – as well as electrical safety labels, signs and tags – needed to keep people safe.
Violation #6: Powered
Industrial Trucks
From platform lift trucks to forklifts and those built for over-the-road
hauling, OSHA standard 1910.178 covers the safety requirements for these
hulking pieces of machinery. Issues cited in the findings from OSHA included
training on the specific type of truck being used, the use and evaluation of
refresher training every three years, and operating a truck in need of repair
or service.
Clarion Safety Solution: It isn't just the people using powered industrial trucks and forklifts that need protection but the people around them. Clarion Safety has the forklift safety labels and signs you need to protect workers, visitors, and subcontractors from forklift traffic accidents and injuries.
Violation #7: Fall Protection -
Training Requirements
This violation was new to the violations list in 2017. It seems this year that
employers are still struggling to provide the proper training materials and programs
for employees as it relates to fall protection, as the 2,050 of falls this past
year are directly attributed to lapse in training materials.
Clarion Safety Solution: Support your fall prevention program and reinforce training on proper safety procedures with safety labels and signs. Clarion Safety offers a variety of trip hazard signs and slip, trip and fall labels – and we can create unlimited custom options in line with your specific program or hazards.
Violation #8: Scaffolding
This OSHA standard,1926.451, relates to general safety requirements for
scaffolding. Employers are required to protect construction workers from falls
and falling objects while working on or near scaffolding – temporary structures
composed of polls and planks – at a 10 foot height or higher. This year, 1,873 citations
have been attributed to scaffolding related incidents, a significant decrease
from 2023.
Clarion Safety Solution: Keep your hard-working construction team off the injured list by selecting from Clarion Safety’s comprehensive workplace safety signs, including slip, trip, and fall signs.
Violation #9: Eye and Face
Protection
2018 was the first year that this violation “Personal Protective and Lifesaving
Equipment - Eye and Face Protection” made the list. It returned in 2021, 2022, 2023
and again in 2024 with 1,814 violations. OSHA standard 1926.102 requires that
employers ensure that their employees use appropriate eye or face protection
when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid
chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially
injurious light radiation.
Clarion Safety Solution: Use safety labels and signs to remind employees about the hazards at hand and the proper PPE required. Clarion Safety offers a variety of PPE labels and PPE reinforcement signs that offer important visual reminders of your company’s safety policies regarding safety glasses and face protection.
Violation #10: Machine Guarding
The OSHA standard,1910.212, covers general requirements for machine guards to
protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from potential
hazards that can occur during a machine’s operation or maintenance, such as
in-running nip points, rotating parts, flying chips, and sparks.
Clarion Safety Solution: Post safety labels and signs to warn of potential hazards if guards, interlock switches or other safety devices are circumvented. Well-designed safety labels and signs are your critical communication tools to reinforce training, serving as a final reminder regarding the importance of the safety devices installed on your products or in your facilities. From emergency stop legend plates to guard switch light curtain labels to accident prevention and equipment safety signs, we can meet all your warning needs.
Helping to Reduce Machinery
& Workplace Risks
Clarion Safety has the label,
sign, and tag products that can help your warnings,
instructions and workplace policies get noticed and heeded. We also offer a
range of complementary services, including comprehensive machinery safety and risk assessment solutions ,
and specialized and targeted training.
Through our acquisitions of Machine Safety Specialists (MSS) and Arrow Industrial Solutions (Arrow), we now offer a comprehensive suite of solutions to help keep your workers safe and your operations running smoothly.Our team at MSS also has available a comprehensive online training program on machine safety risk assessment and machine safeguarding. This live class is designed for employers and workers who want to learn about OSHA machine safety requirements, identify and assess machine hazards, and implement effective safeguarding measures. It covers a wide range of topics, including:
- U.S./OSHA machine safety standards
- Machine hazard identification and assessment
- Machine safeguarding principles and practices
- Risk assessment methodologies
- Selection and implementation of safeguarding devices
- Functional safety/Control reliability
Reach out to us today to learn more about how our teams at Clarion Safety, MSS, and Arrow can help meet your safety and risk reduction needs!