Top 10 Most Frequently Cited OSHA Safety Violations of 2018

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the its top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety violations for fiscal year 2018 at the 2018 NSC Congress & Expo. There were 31,816 violations for the year – that’s more than 3,000 violations from 2017. The list highlights the most common safety and security pain points found at construction sites, utility plants, and other potentially hazardous occupational environments.

While many of the violations are well known safety challenges, it is certainly worth noting their prevalence in certain industries.

“It is unfortunate that these violations are so widespread. They’re all very preventable,” says Ben Jakubovic, CPP, PSP, CYBRA’s Safety and Security Solutions Architect for the company’s Edgefinity IoT Safety & Security platform.

Edgefinity IoT addresses the complex safety and security needs of facilities ranging from typical office buildings to Critical Infrastructure. It is a fully scalable software/hardware solution. Combining active RFID hardware and software with RTLS (real time location system) and multi-sensor capabilities, Edgefinity IoT gives stakeholders the assurance of health, safety and secure monitoring of staff even in lone worker situations.

“It’s easy for people to get complacent about OSHA rules and protocols. That’s why CYBRA safety and security product, Edgefinity IoT, tracks the events that can slip through the cracks, and leads to violations,” concludes Jakubovic.

Here are the top 10 most frequently cited safety violations as determined by OSHA for 2018:

1. Fall Protection; General Requirements

Dangerous falls are the most common type of fatal injuries, and 2018 was no exception. Falls accounted for 814 injuries including 133 fatalities in 2017, according to OSHA’s injury database. Falls were responsible for 7,270 OSHA safety violations – over 20% of the total 28,774 recorded violations in 2017.

Falls are the leading cause of death among workers, and are often caused by misuse of equipment such as using the wrong ladder, or insufficient safety precautions such as not using a harness. Over a third of fatal falls occur at a height of just 15 feet or less.

2. Hazard Communication

With 4,552 safety violations, hazard communication is a very common problem. Hazard communication issues can account for injuries, burns or explosions.

The challenge in hazard communication for employers is to ensure labels and safety data sheets are clearly in view workers exposed to hazardous chemicals and environments. In addition, workers need to be properly trained to handle the chemical properly.

OSHA Standards: All employers with hazardous chemicals in their workplaces must have labels and safety data sheets for their exposed workers, and train them to handle the chemicals appropriately.

3. Scaffolding

According to OSHA, an estimated 2.3 million workers, or 65% of workers in the construction industry work on scaffolds. Proper use of safety equipment is vital when using and setting up scaffolds. In 2018, there were 3,336 safety violations involving scaffolds.

4,500 injuries and over 60 deaths occur each year on scaffolds according to Bureau Labor Statistics (BLS). Yet, according to OSHA, approximately only 33% of scaffolds are installed with guardrails, and approximately 25% of workers had no training in proper scaffold installation and inspection.

4. Respiratory Protection

An estimated 5 million workers are required to wear respirators in 1.3 million workplaces in the US.

Compliance with the OSHA respiratory protection standard could avert hundreds of deaths and thousands of illnesses annually. Respirators protect workers against environments that lack sufficient oxygen, harmful dusts, smokes, gases, and sprays. There were 3,118 respiration protection safety violations in 2018.

5. Lockout/Tagout

There were 2,944 safety violations cited that violated OSHA’s Lockout/Tagout standard. Compliance with lockout & tagout standards prevents an estimated 120 fatalities and 50,000 injuries each year.

Craft workers, electricians, machine operators, and laborers are among the 3 million workers who service equipment routinely and face the risk of injury or death. If hazardous energy such as electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, or thermal is not properly controlled, these workers are exposed to extremely dangerous circumstances. Workers injured on the job from exposure to hazardous energy lose an average of 24 workdays for recuperation.

Download the full lone worker safety webinar here.

6. Ladders

In 2018, there 21 ladder fall injuries that resulted in death. In all, there were 2,812 safety violations concerning ladders.

The reason ladder accidents are the most common is not due to the height of the fall, but actually from workers falling onto dangerous machinery. The use of safety harness and line, safety nets, stair railings and hand rails, can greatly curb the hazard of working on ladders.

7. Powered Industrial Trucks

There were a total of 2,294 OSHA violations related to powered industrial trucks such as forklifts. There are close to 1 million forklifts in the US. Every year approximately 11% of these are involved in an accident.

Each year in the US, nearly 100,000 workers are seriously injured in forklift related incidents, including 85 fatalities.

8. Fall Protection; Training Requirements

1,982 fall protection training requirement violations were cited in 2018. Falls in general were the most common workplace violation in 2018. Whether it is a fall from a ladder, or a fall onto something dangerous, falls are very common injuries. The US Department of Labor lists falls as a leading cause of traumatic death, accounting for 8% of all work fatalities from trauma. Workers who are six feet or more above lower levels are at risk for serious injury or death if they should fall.

9. Machine Guarding

50% of all amputations occur in the manufacturing sector. Improper use of stationary and portable machinery is the primary cause of the amputations.

1,972 total safety violations in 2018 were a result of insufficient machine guarding. The purpose of machine guarding is to protect the machine operator and other employees in the work area from hazards created by rotating parts, flying chips and sparks.

Some examples of these danger zones are barrier guards, light curtains, two-hand operating devices etc. According to OSHA, 49% of the injuries from mechanical power presses resulted in amputation. There were 401 accidents in 2018 from table saws, as well.

10. Eye and Face Protection

Eye and face protection accounted for 1,536 violations in 2018, and is the only newcomer to this list from 2017. In all, there were 252 injuries in 2018 that dealt with the eyes and face.

While many of the cited injuries were non-lethal, injuries to the eye and face can cause life-long misery for those afflicted, and greatly decrease one’s quality of life. Most, if not, all employers in construction or other workplace environments have strict policies of wearing goggles, helmets, and other safety equipment. Still, it being added to the list in 2018 shows a great need for safety team leaders to revisit the importance of keeping workers out of harm’s way.