Fall Protection Remains OSHA’s Top Citation In 2016

Every October, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration releases its preliminary list of the 10 most frequently cited safety and health violations for the fiscal year. OSHA compiled this year’s Top Ten Citations List using data collected from 32,000 workplace inspections throughout the United States.  The annual release of this information is your classic good news/bad news scenario.  On a positive note, we can all learn something from studying this list.  The bad news is that the Top 10 Citation List looks remarkably similar to prior years.

Here is OSHA’s Top 10 List of workplace hazards for 2016:

1. Fall protection
2. Hazard communication
3. Scaffolds
4. Respiratory protection
5. Lockout/tagout
6. Powered industrial trucks
7. Ladders
8. Machine guarding
9. Electrical wiring
10. Electrical, general requirements

Earlier in this post, we alluded to the teachable moments that can come from OSHA’s Top Ten List.  When you consider more than 4,500 workers are killed and approximately 3 million are injured on the job each year, think about the number of deaths, amputations and hospitalizations that could be prevented if employers began focusing their safety efforts on OSHA’s Top Ten List.

The sad news is that fall protection citations continue occupy the number one slot.  In 2016, we have fall protection solutions that safety engineers couldn’t have imagined when OSHA was launched in 1971.  Today’s fall protection solutions are highly effective, and when properly designed, there is no need to choose between employee safety and worker productivity.  If you have employees performing work-related tasks at heights, you can choose to create a workplace free of fall hazards or gamble with the safety of your employees and the financial well-being of your company.  Which choice will you make?

To learn more about fall protection, or to discuss the specifics of your application, contact Diversified Fall Protection for further assistance.