OSHA Reveals Top 10 List of Most Frequently Cited Standards

OSHA recently identified the 10 most frequently cited standards from FY 2012 (October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012). There were no surprises on the list, and it was consistent with years past with only a slight shuffling in the order.

OSHA posts on its website the list of top 10 violations (it has not updated the site with the FY 2012 list yet) in order to "alert employers about these commonly cited standards so they can take steps to find and fix recognized hazards addressed in these and other standards before OSHA shows up. Far too many preventable injuries and illnesses occur in the workplace."

Here is the list for FY 2012:

1. 1926.501 –    Fall Protection (cited 7,250 times during FY 2012)
2. 1910.1200 – Hazard Communication (cited 4,696 times during FY 2012)
3. 1926.451 –    Scaffolding (cited 3,814 times during FY 2012)
4. 1910.134 –    Respiratory Protection (cited 2,371 times during FY 2012)
5. 1926.1053 –  Ladders (cited 2,310 times during FY 2012)
6. 1910.212 –    Machine Guarding (cited 2,097 times during FY 2012)
7. 1910.178 –    Powered Industrial Trucks (cited 1,993 times during FY 2012)
8. 1910.305 –   Electrical, Wiring Methods (cited 1,744 times during FY 2012)
9. 1910.147 –    Lockout/Tagout (cited 1,572 times during FY 2012)
10. 1910.303 –   Electrical, General Requirements (cited 1,332 times during FY 2012)

This year, OSHA also reported the Top 10 standards in terms of the highest assessed total penalties for FY.  It is worth noting that excavation hazards are not among the 10 most frequently cited standards, but citations related to those hazards are the 7th most highly penalized.  That is likely a result of the fact that many excavation-related citations have been characterized lately as Willful or Repeat with much higher penalties than Serious violations.  Here is the list:

1. 1926.501 -- Fall protection, construction
2. 1926.451 -- Scaffolding, general requirements, construction
3. 1910.147 -- Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), general industry
4. 1910.212 -- Machines, general requirements, general industry
5. 1926.1053 -- Ladders, construction
6.  1910.178 -- Powered industrial trucks, general industry
7.  1926.652 -- Excavations, requirements for protective systems
8. 1910.1200 -- Hazard communication standard, general industry
9. 1910.305 -- Electrical, wiring methods, components and equipment, general industry
10. 1910.303 -- Electrical systems design, general requirements, general industry

For purposes of comparison and evaluating trends, here is the Top 10 list of most frequently cited standards from FY 2011, which includes all of the same standards, only with slight differences in the order of frequency cited:

1. 1926.451-  Scaffolding
2. 1926.501-  Fall Protection
3. 1910.1200-Hazard Communication
4. 1910.134-   Respiratory Protection
5. 1910.147-   Lockout/Tagout
6. 1910.305-  Electrical-wiring methods
7. 1910.178-   Powered Industrial Trucks
8. 1926.1053-Ladders
9. 1910.303- Electrical-general requirement
10. 1910.212-   Machine Guarding

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The Workforce Bulletin blog is currently edited by Adam S. Forman, Greta Ravitsky, Elizabeth S. Torkelsen, and Jennifer Stefanick Barna.