The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducts upwards of 32,000 inspections each year, but that number is expected to rise in the near future. Earlier this month, the U.S. labor secretary said he expects jobsite inspections to increase once the new crop of OSHA agents hired in fiscal year 2018 completes training.
Common OSHA violations can add up quickly, costing businesses thousands of dollars. Something as simple as failing to post safety regulations could incur a fine of up to $13,260!
For reference, here are the OSHA violation types and their maximum fines:
Other-than-Serious Violations ($13,260): Breaches of OSHA rules that are related to job safety or employee health but would not usually cause death or serious injury.
Serious Violations ($13,260): Worksite hazards that could cause an accident or illness that would likely result in death or serious injury.
Repeated Violations ($132,598): When an employer has been cited for a specific violation and a subsequent inspection reveals the same violation.
Willful Violations ($132,598): Intentional violations of OSHA rules or situations that show a disregard for employee health and safety.
Failure to Abate Violations ($13,260): When an employer receives a citation and does not remedy the situation by the date specified by OSHA.
By adhering to OSHA’s safety standards, you are not just protecting the livelihood of your business, but the lives of your employees!
Every year, the agency releases their top 10 violations to help employers recognize the most common hazards so they can fix them before an inspector shows up — avoiding costly fines and keeping their workforce safe.
Here are the most common OSHA violations from 2018:
1. Fall protection – construction (7,270 violations)
2. Hazard communication standard – general industry (4,552 violations)
3. Scaffolding, general requirements – construction (3,336 violations)
4. Respiratory protection – general industry (3,118 violations)
5. Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout) – general industry (2,944 violations)
6. Ladders – construction (2,812 violations)
7. Powered industrial trucks – general industry (2,294 violations)
8. Fall protection – training requirements (1,982 violations)
9. Machinery and machine guarding – general requirements (1,972 violations)
10. Eye and face protection – (1,536 violations)
The list changes very little from year to year, but eye and face protection (No. 10) is a newcomer to the list in 2018.
Organization and documentation are key to avoiding these common OSHA violations and preventing workplace injuries. Mobile technology makes it easy to conduct safety audits and keep the records in one, easily accessible place.
It also enables managers to see patterns and detect trends so they can stay ahead of potential hazards before anyone gets hurt.
With a mobile forms platform like Fulcrum, your team can complete safety inspections with their mobile devices, online or offline, and snap geotagged photos of problem areas to alert managers to issues right away. And managers or anyone with access to the dashboard can see when and where safety audits have been completed, and by whom.
And once you download Fulcrum, you can use it for all of your inspections and surveys to eliminate wasteful, time-consuming paperwork and get more jobs completed in less time.
Check out our app gallery to see how our customers are using Fulcrum to work more safely and efficiently!
Fulcrum is a data collection platform that enables organizations to reduce costs, access critical data in real time, and improve decision making at every level. With Fulcrum, you can create custom apps using our simple drag-and-drop builder to turn your paper documents into digital forms that your field teams can quickly complete on mobile devices.