The agency has released its Top 10 Violations for fiscal year 2011*. The Deputy Director for OSHA’s Directorate of Environmental Programs, Patrick Kapust, provided the new list at the National Safety Council’s Annual Congress. The list includes a mix of general industry and construction standards:
(1) Fall Protection in Construction (1926.501): 7,139 violations; the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says 260 workers died in fiscal year 2010 due to violations of this standard.
2012 Safety Expo-related Fall Protection Sessions:
Cal/OSHA Fall Protection, John Ford Cal/OSHA
Introduction to Fall Protection, Andy Bull, CH Bull Company
Fall Rescue, Kent Freeman, Western Safety Institute
Fatalities in Construction Due to Falls, David Harrington and Cierpich, Cal.Dept Public Health
(2) Scaffolding in Construction (1926.451): 7,069 violations; BLS says in FY 2010, 37 workers died because of incidents involving faulty scaffolding.
2012 Safety Expo-related Scaffolding Sessions:
Frame Type Scaffolding Competent Person, David Johnson, Skyline Scaffold
Commercial Scaffold Safety & Hazard Awareness, David Johnson, Skyline Scaffold, and Expo Safety Advisory Council.
(3) Hazard Communication (1910.1200): 6,538 violations; Kapust says in one fatal incident involving hazard communication, an employee lit a lighter to see the level of material inside a barrel, and the substance ignited. Proper labeling should have indicated how full the barrel was and that the material inside was combustible.
2012 Safety Expo-related Hazard Communication Session:
What You Wanted to Know About Hazard Communication, Marty Tamayo, Cal/OSHA
(4) Respiratory protection (1910.134): 3,944 violations; five million workers in the U.S. are covered under this standard and are required to wear respirators at their jobs.
2012 Safety Expo-related Respiratory session:
To Be Announced
(5) Lock-out/Tag-out (1910.147): 3,639 violations; the average days away from work for employees injured in incidents connected to this standard is 24.
2012 Safety Expo-related Lock-out/Tag-out Session:
Lock-out/Tag-out, Tim Thrift, TNT Consulting
(6) Electrical Wiring Methods (1910.305); 3,584 violations; employees affected by this standard range from engineers, electricians, and other professionals who work with electricity directly, to office workers and administrative staff who use any type of electrical equipment.
(7) Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178); 3,432 violations; BLS says in FY 2010, there were 8,410 injuries connected to use of powered industrial trucks, such as forklifts.
2012 Safety Expo-related Powered Industrial Trucks sessions:Warehouse Forklift Training Class 4 & 5 and 7, Aerial Boom and Scissor Lift, Ken Howarth, Sunbelt Rentals
(8) Ladders in construction (1926.1053): 3,244 violations; falls are consistently one of the top three causes of worker fatalities.
2012 Safety Expo-related Ladder Safety Sessions:
Introduction to Ladder Safety, Andy Bull, CH Bull Company
New Ladder Regulations, Jennifer Martin, State Fund
(9) Electrical General Requirements (1910.303): 2,863 violations; this standard seeks to prevent injuries and deaths from electric shock, fires and explosions.
2012 Safety Expo-related Electrical Safety Session:
NFPA 701 – 2012 Standard for Electrical Safety in the Work Place, Tom Burke, Schetter Electric, and Expo Safety Advisory Council member.
(10) Machine Guarding (1910.212): 2,748 violations; this standard also covers anchoring of equipment.
2012 Safety Expo-related Machine Guarding session:
Machine Guarding—You Didn’t Really Remove that Did You? – Rich Heberlein, R&L and Associates.
For information on additional sessions, dates, times and registration (registration is available on January 17, 2012), please click the following link: http://www.regonline.com/eventinfo.asp?EventId=994822
*This list covers the period from October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011.
For compliance assistance on these standards, you can go to OSHA’s Safety and Health Topics pages.







