The top four standards on the 2013 list are the exact same ones that made up the top four in fiscal year 2012, and in the same order, reports the Steel Erectors Association of America.
This year no OSHA official was on hand at the 2013 National Safety Congress and Expo for the unveiling of the top 10 list because of the federal government shutdown.
“I’ve had the privilege of hosting this presentation the last five years, and every year we’ve had an official from OSHA here to talk with you about these top 10 violations and how they relate to workplace hazards and what they mean to workplace safety,” Kyle Morrison, senior associate editor for the National Safety Council’s Safety and Health magazine, told a large crowd on the expo floor at the McCormick Place in Chicago.
In a brief presentation, Morrison unveiled the preliminary figures for the top 10 most frequently cited OSHA standards in fiscal year 2013:
Rank Hazard Standard # of Violations
1 Fall protection (1926.501) 8,241
2 Hazard communication (1910.1200) 6,156
3 Scaffolding (1926.451) 5,423
4 Respiratory protection (1910.134) 3,879
5 Electrical, wiring methods (1910.305) 3,452
6 Powered industrial trucks (1910.178) 3,340
7 Ladders (1926.1053) 3,311
8 Lockout/tagout (1910.147) 3,254
9 Electrical, general requirements (1910.303) 2,745
10 Machine guarding (1910.212) 2,701
Although there hasn’t been much deviation in the list, Morrison said he expects OSHA’s recently revised hazard-communication standard to be the focus of attention in the coming years. OSHA revised the hazcom standard in March of 2012 to align the rule with the United Nations’ global chemical-labeling system. The deadline is December 1, 2013 for employers to train their workers on the rule’s new labeling elements as well as the new standardized format for safety-data sheets. Read More.