By Paul Bernier, ASP
In 1970, President Nixon signed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and since then, OSHA has become a main driver in advancing workplace safety in the United States. Before the formation of OSHA, there was very little legislation to protect workers and the workforce was often likened to the “the wild west.”
OSHA’s mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and protect the health of America’s workers. The OSH Act states that workers have the right to a safe and healthy workplace and that it is the employer’s responsibility to provide those working conditions.
OSHA has created numerous standards enforcing employers to provide a safe workplace. Violating OSHA standards carries severe consequences for both the employee’s safety and the employer’s bottom line. Recently, OSHA announced its preliminary findings on the most frequently cited workplace safety standards for fiscal year 2024, and some of the fines associated with the violations.
#1 FALL PROTECTION
Fall protection has been the most cited violation for 14 years straight, so there is no surprise it still holds the top spot. The fall protection standard outlines what type of protection and supervision are required based on the situation.
The standard is 1926.501 and had 6,307 violations in FY 2024. Of these, there were 4,932 “serious” violations. Serious violations are defined by OSHA as “one in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result, and knew or should have known of the hazard.
#2 HAZARD COMMUNICATION (HAZCOM)
The Hazcom standard addresses chemical hazards that are present in the workplace. These can be chemicals that are produced, already on site, or received. The employer is responsible for informing employees of the dangers involved with each chemical.
The Global Harmonization System (GHS) was created for proper labeling of chemicals and is internationally recognized. This system helps identify what the hazardous chemical is, what health hazards could be involved, environmental hazards, and physical hazards. The labels have pictograms for quick recognition.
The standard is 1910.1200, and there were 2,888 violations issued in 2024, 1,929 of which were denoted as “serious.”
#3 LADDERS
The ladder standard covers general requirements for all ladders. This includes weight limits, ladder safety practices, maintenance, extension limits, proper use, and design. Each year, approximately 500,000 people are injured, and 300 deaths result from ladders.
The standard is 1926.1053, and there were 2,573 violations in 2024, with 2,210 serious violations.
#4 RESPIRATORY PROTECTION
This standard requires an employer to create and maintain a respiratory program to keep workers safe when respiratory hazards are present. This includes proper PPE selection, fit testing, training, medical evaluation, maintenance, and cleaning.
The standard is 1910.134, and in 2024 there were 2,470 violations with 1,746 marked “serious.”
#5 LOCKOUT / TAGOUT (LO/TO)
This standard lays out the requirements to control hazardous energy during maintenance or repair of equipment. When used properly, it prohibits someone from accidentally turning on a machine while someone is working on it, which could cause death or serious injury. Each year in the U.S., an estimated 120 deaths and 50,000 injuries could have been avoided if proper LO/TO procedures were used.
The standard is 1910.147, and there were 2,443 violations in 2024, 1,927 were serious.
#6 POWERED INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS
This standard requires proper operation, training, maintenance, and design of powered vehicles such as forklifts.
The standard is 1910.178, and there were 2,248 violations with 1,488 serious violations.
#7 FALL PROTECTION TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
This standard requires the employer to provide proper training to employees who may use fall protection equipment and face possible fall hazards.
This is standard 1926.503, there were 2,050 violations this year and 1,301 were considered serious.
#8 SCAFFOLDING
This standard is set to keep workers safe when they are more than 10 feet above a lower level. It ensures proper railings, footing supports, training, proper planking, inspection, etc. This is to protect employees from things like falling objects, falls, electrocution, overloading, and weather conditions.
The standard is 1926.451 and there were 1,873 violations, 1,736 were serious.
#9 PERSONAL PROTECTIVE & LIFE SAVING EQUIPMENT -EYE AND FACE PROTECTION
This standard is directed at wearing the appropriate eye and face protection to avoid injuries from flying objects, chemical splashes, IR and UV rays, lasers, etc.
The standard is 1926.102, and there were 1,814 violations and 1,524 of them were serious violations.
#10 MACHINE GUARDING
This standard addresses the proper guarding needed to protect people from flying chips or sparks, rotating parts, nip points. Guarding protects the operator from accidental injury while operating machinery (as far as we know, this does include guards for angle grinders which we often find in the trash can with the grinder handle).
This standard is 1910.212, and there were 1.541 violations and 1,295 of those were serious violations.
These OSHA violations can also be expensive… Here are a few examples of fines that were imposed on companies that violated OSHA standards:
- $2.5 million, Phenix City, AL – worker was killed when caught in machinery.
- $1.9 million, Minot, ND – repeatedly exposed workers to trenching hazards.
- $1.3 million, Florence, WI – worker was killed while repairing conveyor.
- $1,038,918, Guam – company did not provide proper safety equipment to employees.
- $1,019,096, Chicago, IL – exposed workers to unsafe levels of silica dust.
- $1,017,248, Franklin Lakes, NJ – lack of fall protection, failure to ensure eye protection, unsafe scaffolding and not providing hard hats to workers.
Other notable penalties from 2024:
- $810,703 – fatality due to confined space.
- $551,719 – amputation from improper LO/TO.
- $536,965 – explosive dust collecting
- $536,262 – fatality from pipe crushing worker.
Is your workplace at risk of receiving one of these violations? Breaking OSHA guidelines puts employees’ safety in jeopardy and carries hefty penalties. The fines assessed can easily put many U.S. companies out of business. As industrial suppliers, it is important to provide not only the products that OHSA requires but the training as well.
At General Air, we provide most of the compliant training to our customers free of charge, helping to keep their employees safe and the customer happy with us as caring experts.
