2012 Top 10 OSHA Violations_edited-1Posted January 30, 2013

With the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.

Visit the OSHA asbestos page to learn how to prevent occupational asbestos exposure and to answer the top four questions ADAO commonly receives are:  What is asbestos? What are the hazards of asbestos? What can be done to reduce the hazards of asbestos? How can OSHA Help?

David Michaels, PhD, MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, states, “worker injuries, illnesses and deaths should never be accepted as simply ‘the cost of doing business’. Even one death on the job is one too many, and every workplace injury or illness places a heavy burden on our nation.”

“Since 1970, workplace fatalities have been reduced by more than 65 percent and occupational injury and illness rates have declined by 67 percent,” cites OSHA. “At the same time, U.S. employment has almost doubled.”

Hazard communication standard and respiratory protection violations rank number 2 and 4 respectively of the top most frequently cited standards in fiscal year 2012.

The following were the top 10 most frequently cited standards in fiscal year 2012 (October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012):

  1. Fall protection, construction (29 CFR 1926.501)
  2. Hazard communication standard, general industry (29 CFR 1910.1200) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  3. Scaffolding, general requirements, construction (29 CFR 1926.451) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  4. Respiratory protection, general industry (29 CFR 1910.134) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  5. Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), general industry (29 CFR 1910.147) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  6. Powered industrial trucks, general industry (29 CFR 1910.178) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  7. Electrical, wiring methods, components and equipment, general industry (29 CFR 1910.305) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  8. Ladders, construction (29 CFR 1926.1053) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  9. Machines, general requirements, general industry (29 CFR 1910.212) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  10. Electrical systems design, general requirements, general industry (29 CFR 1910.303) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]

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