During the October 2021 National Safety Council Safety Congress & Expo, OSHA revealed its preliminary “Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Workplace Violations” for 2021 (Oct ‘20 – Sept ‘21). The following annual violation figures are alarming, because they translate not only into potential employee injuries and/or death, but very real fines for businesses as well.
1. Fall Protection – General Requirements (1926.501): 5,295
2. Respiratory Protection (1910.134): 2,527
3. Ladders (1926.1053): 2,026
4. Scaffolding (1926.451): 1,948
5. Hazard Communication (1910.1200): 1,947
6. Lockout/Tagout (1910.147): 1,698
7. Fall Protection – Training Requirements (1926.503): 1,666
8. Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment – Eye and Face Protection (1926.102): 1,452
9. Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178): 1,420
10. Machine Guarding (1910.212): 1,113
These numbers reinforce the importance of staying vigilant about worker safety and health. Far too many preventable injuries, illnesses, and deaths occur in the workplace that are related to these top 10 cited standards. It is important to make sure that you are training your employees, as well as keeping proper documentation at your facility at all times! OSHA publishes this annual list to alert employers about the most commonly cited standards so that they have the opportunity to find, and fix, these safety hazards. Now is time to do something about them, before OSHA walks through your door!
Now for some good news.
When Safety Regulation Strategies, Inc. (SRSI) staff visits a body shop for the first time, we often find that many do not have a proper respiratory protection program. This includes training documentation, fit-test records, and medical evaluations (Number 2: Respiratory Protection). Many employees are not using the proper respirators or even any respirators at all! Not following the regulations can not only lead to employee injury or illness, but hefty fines as well. Creating a Respiratory Protection Program, tailored to your unique needs, is just one of the many strategies that SRSI uses to Bullet-Proof your business to avoid hefty fines, or worse, workplace injuries. Call us to discuss how we can develop a program for you that not only meets the most commonly cited violations, but hundreds of others addressed by OSHA and EPA as well.