BLR Publishes List of 10 Most Cited OSHA Standards for 2014

Ever wonder what the most common Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) citations are? Well, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently published this information for the 2014 year in the form of an infographic.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was formed in 1970 as a branch of the United States Department of Labor (DOL). For more than three decades, the Administration's goal has been to assure safe and healthful working conditions for the millions of hard-working men and women in the U.S. It does this by creating and enforcing safety regulations that employers must follow. And if an employer violates one of these regulations, they may face fines or other penalties.

So, what are some of the most commonly cited OSHA standards? According to the BLS' report, employers were cited the most in 2014 for the following violations:

1. Fall Protection in Construction
2. Hazard Communication
3. Scaffolding in Construction
4. Respiratory Protection
5. Powered Industrial Trucks
6. Lockout/Tagout
7. Ladders in Construction
8. Electrical Wiring Methods
9. Machine Guarding
10. Electrical: General Requirements

As you can see, fall protection in the construction industry topped the list as the most frequently cited OSHA standard for 2014. It's unclear exactly how many employers were cited for this violation last year, but it's safe to assume the number was high. Why do some construction companies fail to provide adequate fall protection to their workers? This is a question that remains up for debate, but one possible reason is that workers simply aren't receiving adequate training; thus, placing them at risk for fall-relayed injuries.

"Several of OSHA's most frequently sited standards involve violations for lack of training or inadequate training," wrote the BLS on its infographic.

Hazard communication also ranked high on the BLS' list of most frequently cited OSHA standards. Hazard communication essentially involves the creation of a plan that relates to the prevention and response to common hazards in the workplace. OSHA requires all companies that handle hazardous materials to have a plan such as this in place. If a toxic or otherwise hazardous chemical is spilled in the workplace, workers need to have clear instructions on how to clean it up and mitigate the risk of injury or illness. Failure to have a hazardous communications plan in place could result in a citation.

You can access the BLS' infographic on the most frequently cited standards of 2014 by visiting

http://safety.blr.com/workplace-safety-news/safety-administration/OSHA-and-state-safety-compliance-enforcement/Infographic-OSHAs-Top-10-Most-Frequently-Cited-Sta/.