Every year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ranks the 10 most frequently cited standards following worksite inspections. Workers experience avoidable injuries, illnesses and fatalities associated with the hazards the standards cover.
OSHA publishes its ranking so employers can become aware of repeatedly flagged standards. The aim is to help employers identify and correct hazards before they become a problem. See how your safety programs stand against these citations.
Top 10 OSHA citations
OSHA shared its preliminary data at the 2024 NSC Safety Congress & Expo. Fall protection maintained the top spot for the 14th straight year. It received twice the number of citations as the runner-up, hazard communication. Respiratory protection went from seventh to fourth place. Scaffolding dropped from fourth to eighth place. Machine guarding maintained its position.
The following are the top 10 OSHA standards cited from October 2023 to September 2024:
-
Rank Safety: Fall protection
Safety and health topic: 1926.501
What it covers: Fall protection. Requires employers to provide fall protection systems to employees working at heights.
-
Rank Safety: Hazard communication
Safety and health topic: 1910.1200
What it covers: Hazard communication. Requires employers to disclose and classify hazards of all chemicals produced or imported. Also requires employers to communicate information about the classified hazards to employees, and maintain a written hazard communication program and chemical inventory.
-
Rank Safety: Ladders
Safety and health topic: 1926.1053
What it covers: Ladders. Regulates the types of ladders employers must provide to employees for the jobs they’re doing.
-
Rank Safety: Respiratory protection
Safety and health topic: 1910.134
What it covers: Respiratory protection. Requires employers to control employees’ exposure to air contaminated with harmful dusts, fogs, fumes, mists, gases, smokes, sprays or vapors.
-
Rank Safety: Lockout/Tag out
Safety and health topic: 1910.147
What it covers: The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tag out). Sets minimum requirements for controlling hazardous energy when machines and equipment are being serviced or maintained. The lockout/tag out process prevents unexpected startups and releases of stored energy that could injure employees.
-
Rank Safety: Powered industrial trucks
Safety and health topic: 1910.178
What it covers: Powered industrial trucks. Requires safety measures relating to the design, maintenance and use of powered industrial trucks. These include fork trucks, tractors, platform lift trucks, motorized hand trucks, and other industrial trucks powered by electric motors or internal combustion engines.
-
Rank Safety: Fall protection
Safety and health topic: 1926.503
What it covers: Training requirements. Requires employers to provide fall protection training to employees exposed to fall. hazards. Minimally, employees should be able to recognize fall hazards in the workplace and follow procedures for minimizing those hazards.
-
Rank Safety: Scaffolds
Safety and health topic: 1926.451
What it covers: General requirements. Regulates the types, materials, construction and uses of scaffolds, as well as fall protection and guards employers must provide for employees working on or around scaffolds.
-
Rank Safety: Personal protective equipment
Safety and health topic: 1926.102
What it covers: Eye and face protection. Requires employers to provide affected employees with proper eye and face protection. Personal protective equipment must protect against hazards like flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, and light radiation.
-
Rank Safety: Machine guarding
Safety and health topic: 1910.212
What it covers: General requirements for all machines. Requires employers to protect machine operators and other employees nearby from rotating parts, flying chips, sparks and other machine-related hazards.
Free on-site safety consultation
If you’re a smaller business looking for feedback about your safety programs, try OSHA’s free safety consultation program. It’s open to small businesses with 250 or fewer employees at a single location and fewer than 500 employees in the entire company.
An on-site consultation can help you identify and address hazards and establish or improve your safety and health programs. Consultants from state agencies or universities provide the services. The consultations are confidential and separate from OSHA enforcement.
Keeping up with OSHA standards can help you maintain a safe workplace and avoid regulatory mishaps.Employees are counting on you to help them make it through the workday safely!
