OSHA Reveals Top 10 Most Cited Violations for 2019

The U.S. National Safety Council (NSC) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the preliminary Top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety violations for fiscal year 2019.

With more than 6,000 reported violations, “Fall Protection – General Requirements” tops this year’s list for the ninth consecutive year followed by “Hazard Communication” at nearly 3,700 cited violations. Meanwhile, “Eye and Face Protection,” a newcomer to last year’s list, remains in the No. 10 spot with just over 1,400 violations.

Based on preliminary figures as of August 15, the top 10 violations for 2019 are:

1. Fall Protection – General Requirements — 6,010

2. Hazard Communication — 3,671

3. Scaffolding — 2,813

4. Lockout/Tagout — 2,606

5. Respiratory Protection — 2,450

6. Ladders — 2,345

7. Powered Industrial Trucks — 2,093

8. Fall Protection – Training Requirements — 1,773

9. Machine Guarding — 1,743

10. Eye and Face Protection — 1,411.

The list was presented as part of the NSC 2019 Congress & Expo in San Diego this week. A more in-depth look at the top 10 violations for 2019 will be published in the December edition of Safety+Health magazine, a NSC publication.