Top 10 OSHA Workplace Safety Violations in 2019: Employers Violating Safety Laws

Latest OSHA Top Ten List Warns of Preventable Accidents on the Job

Illinois’ internationally revered non-profit National Safety Council once again hosted what it describes as “the world’s largest annual gathering of safety professionals” this month with its National Safety Congress and Expo in San Diego, California.

One of the major events of the NSC’s annual safety event is the announcement by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of its list of the top ten safety regulations most commonly violated by American employers during the prior fiscal year.

The 2019 OSHA Top Ten List of Most Frequently Cited Workplace Safety Violations

Here are the ten federal regulations that have been ignored and violated most often by companies employing American workers during the past year, according to OSHA:

1. Fall Protection – General Requirements (6,010 violations)
2. Hazard Communication (3,671 violations)
3. Scaffolding (2,813 violations)
4. Lockout/Tagout (2,606 violations)
5. Respiratory Protection (2,450 violations)
6. Ladders (2,345 violations)
7. Powered Industrial Trucks (2,093 violations)
8. Fall Protection – Training Requirements (1,773 violations)
9. Machine Guarding (1,743 violations)
10. Eye & Face Protection (1,411 violations).

From NSC President and CEO Lorraine M. Martin:

“Far too many preventable injuries and deaths occur on the job.  The OSHA Top 10 list is a helpful guide for understanding just how adept America’s businesses are in complying with the basic rules of workplace safety.

This list should serve as a challenge for us to do better as a nation and expect more from employers. It should also serve as a catalyst for individual employees to re-commit to safety.”

Are Things Getting Safer for Workers in Indiana, Illinois, and the Rest of the Country?  No.

It is disheartening for those advocating for victims of severe workplace injuries and the grieving loved ones of workers who died in on-the-job accidents to find that once again, the same safety violations appear on this Commonly Violated Federal Safety Law List.

Consider the following:

1.  Continued Violation of Basic Safety Regulations to Protect Against Falls

The General Safety Requirements for Fall Protection (29 CFR 1926.501) is the most often federal safety regulation violated by employers in 2019.

This single federal law protecting against falls on the construction site has been the safety regulation violated more often than any other for the past NINE years. 

This particular federal regulation sets forth the legal requirements for employers to provide fall protection systems. All the requirements must conform to the specific criteria set forth in 29 CFR 1926.502.

29 CFR 1926.501 is not complicated.  It demands that workers in the construction industry be protected from severe or fatal injuries in a work-site fall with things like (this is not a complete list):

• guardrail systems, safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems for employees facing “unprotected sides and edges” on a walking or work surface (both horizontal and vertical) that is at least six feet (6’) higher than a lower level (29 CFR 1926.501(b)(1)) as well as in other dangerous situations, such as a worker who is constructing a leading edge at least six feet or more above a lower level (29 CFR 1926.501(b)(2)(i)) or in a hoist area (29 CFR 1926.501(b)(3));
• covers for any holes on the work or walking surfaces of the site, to prevent slip and falls or workers being hurt from being hit by objects falling through holes on the job site ( 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(4)(ii); 501(b)(4)(iii));
• personal fall arrest systems, safety net systems, or positioning device systems for any worker on the face of formwork and reinforcing steel (29 CFR 1926.501(b)(6)); and
• guardrails for any employer working on ramps, runways, and other walkways to keep them from falling 6 feet (1.8 m) or more to lower levels(29 CFR 1926.501(b)(7).

2.  The 2018 Top Ten List is staggeringly similar to the 2019 Top Ten List

On the Department of Labor’s site, OSHA has published the past year’s Top Ten List of Most Frequently Cited Violations.  While some might assume that employers would act to change things for their workers and adhere to safety regulations made the focus of OSHA’s Top Ten Findings, that’s not the case.

Employers continue to ignore and violate the same federal laws for the most part, year end and year out.  This means that workers in Indiana, Illinois, and elsewhere remain at risk for serious and fatal injuries even though these kinds of preventable accidents are recognized by safety advocates and known to employers.

Here is the 2018 OSHA Top Ten List, notice how similar it is to the 2019 OSHA Top Ten List (above):

1. Fall protection, construction (remains no. 1 in 2019);
2. Hazard communication standard, general industry (remains no. 2 in 2019);
3. Scaffolding, general requirements, construction (remains no. 3 in 2019);
4. Respiratory protection, general industry (falls to no. 5 in 2019);
5. Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), general industry;
6. Ladders, construction (remains no. 6 in 2019);
7. Powered industrial trucks, general industry (remains no. 7 in 2019);
8. Fall Protection–Training Requirements (remains no. 8 in 2019);
9. Machinery and Machine Guarding, general requirements (remains no. 9 in 2019); and
10. Eye and Face Protection. (remains no. 10 in 2019).

Preventable Accidents on the Work Site: Deaths and Debilitating Injuries to Workers on the Job

Workers in Illinois, Indiana, and the rest of the country face tremendous risks of injury when they go about their daily tasks in certain industries, particularly construction (both residential and commercial) as well as those working with the rail industry and other forms of commercial transportation (including trucking).

These OSHA warnings must be given greater respect by employers before workers will be safe from serious injury or death on the job.  Obviously, companies are failing to heed the annual Top Ten List warnings, given that the same violations appear year after year on the OSHA List.

OSHA does act at times to make things safer.  Just yesterday, for instance, an OSHA news release announced that Polo Masonry Builders Inc. in Park Ridge, Illinois had been cited for “exposing employees to fall and scaffolding hazards while working on a commercial building project in Chicago, Illinois,” with the company facing penalties of $252,136.00 and being placed on OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program.  Specifically, OSHA cited Illinois’ Polo Masonry Builders for 13 different fall protection violations since 2010.

However, OSHA’s efforts alone are clearly not sufficient to lower the risk of preventable accidents on the job site despite federal regulations defining the minimum safety standards employers are to meet for their workers.  This leaves workers at risk of great harm or even death while on the job, with claims for justice in the aftermath of a serious injury based upon state laws for negligence, product liability, workers’ compensation, and/or wrongful death.

For more, read:

• Job Site Injury in Illinois or Indiana: When Accidents at Work Are Not Worker’s Compensation Claims
• Hurt on the Job Site: Workers Afraid to Make a Safety Complaint

Working on the job and providing for yourself and your family can be dangerous and deadly.  Federal regulations are in place, but cannot guarantee worker safety.  Please be careful out there!