OSHA unveiled its List of the 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards for fiscal year (“FY”) 2013 (i.e., October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013). The announcement came at the 2013 National Safety Council Congress and Expo.
Here is the full list for Fiscal Year 2013:
- 1926.501 – Fall Protection (cited 8,241 times during FY 2013)
- 1910.1200 – Hazard Communication (cited 6,156 times during FY 2013)
- 1926.451 – Scaffolding (cited 5,423 times during FY 2013)
- 1910.134 – Respiratory Protection (cited 3,879 times during FY 2013)
- 1910.305 – Electrical, Wiring Methods (cited 3,452 times during FY 2013)
- 1910.178 – Powered Industrial Trucks (cited 3,340 times during FY 2013)
- 1926.1053 – Ladders (cited 3,311 times during FY 2013)
- 1910.147 – Lockout/Tagout (cited 3,254 times during FY 2013)
- 1910.303 – Electrical, General Requirements (cited 2,745times in FY 2013)
- 1910.212 – Machine Guarding (cited 2,701 times during FY 2013)
The most significant change from FY 2012 to this year has been the number of gross violations for the standards on the list. In FY 2013, Fall Protection violations were found 8,241 times, up from 7,250 violations in FY 2012 for the same standard; a difference of almost 1,000 more citations in only one year. The 10th most frequently cited standard on the FY 2013 List (i.e., Machine Guarding) was cited 1,369 more times than the 10th most cited standard in FY 2012.
To get a sense of how many more citations OSHA is issuing now, the 10th most frequently cited standard this year was cited more times than the fourth most cited standard in FY 2012. This pattern demonstrates that OSHA enforcement efforts have continued to rise during the current administration at a significant rate, even from year to year.
See the chart below for the citations issued and the change in violation dynamics from 2012 to 2013.
EHS Safety News America 