OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) is responsible for the safety and well-being of all public employees throughout the country. As you are likely aware, OSHA maintains a large list of regulations and requirements in 29 CFR 1910. Each year, OSHA releases statistics on what the most common violations and citations are related to. This year’s top most cited violations for all industries include:
- Fall Protection – General Requirements (construction)
- Hazard Communication
- Respiratory Protection
- Ladders (construction)
- Scaffolding (construction)
- Lockout/Tagout
- Powered Industrial Trucks
- Fall Protection – Training Requirements (construction)
- Personal Protective Equipment – Eyes and Face Protection (construction)
- Machine Guarding
In comparison to last year, the list essentially remained the same, which some variations in placement on the list.
While some of the categories are specific to the construction industry, some common examples of the issues regarding the above list that you may find at your facility are as follows:
- Fall Protection –
- Not protecting exposed edges at a height of four feet or higher.
- Not having platforms equipped with toe guards.
- Hazard Communication –
- Not labeling all your chemical bottles.
- Not maintaining SDS for all chemicals.
- Respiratory Protection –
- Not having proper respirator filters.
- Not having employees properly cleared, fit tested, and free of facial hair.
- Ladders –
- Not having ladders that are long enough for the job, or ladders that are not leaning at a safe angle.
- Not having self-closing safety gates on fixed ladder platforms.
- Lockout / Tagout –
- Not performing yearly reviews of your site-specific Lockout / Tagout procedures.
- Not properly utilizing Lockout / Tagout procedures to enter into equipment.
- Powered Industrial Trucks –
- Not having employees properly trained and certified to operate forklifts at least once every 3 years.
- Using forklifts in areas that are not designated for their use. (using a non-rated forklift in a hazardous environment, e.g. combustible dust or flammable vapors)
- Fall Protection – Training
- Not properly training employees on how to correctly don fall protection equipment such as harnesses.
- Not properly training employees on awareness of when to use fall protection equipment.
- Personal Protective Equipment – Eyes and Face Protection
- Not requiring employees to use protective eyewear.
- If eyewear is required, not requiring employees to use impact rated, ANSI approved lenses that cover both the front and sides of the eyes.
- Machine Guarding
- Not protecting employees from pinch point hazards due to chains and sprockets, pulleys, or moving parts.
- Not properly adjusting disc grinder’s work rest and tongue guards.
The above is just a small set of examples that may apply to the previously mentioned categories.
CTI has experience with conducting mock OSHA inspections, reviewing programs, conducting trainings, as well as developing these systems for you to use yourself.
Are you interested in conducting a full site safety audit that will inspect your facility for a large array of known safety hazards? If so, please contact us using the form present on the “Contact” page.