Back in October, at the National Safety Council's annual Safety Congress, we got our first look at OSHA's Top Ten Violations list for 2016. We covered that for you in an earlier blog post.
But every year, OSHA follows up that initial announcement with a second announcement that includes a lot more data.
That information is out now, and we've got it for you below.
Remember that in a lot of cases, these violations can be avoided with proper safety and health training at your workplace.
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The first thing you notice is that all ten standards were on list year's list too.
The standards are in basically the same order on the list, too.
The one difference in order is that Machine Guarding moved up one slot from ninth last year to eighth this year. But even though machine guarding jumped up one slot, there were actually fewer machine guarding violations cited in 2016 (2,448) than there were in 2015 (2,540).
Another thing that stands out is the large number of Fall Protection citations (6,096) and Hazard Communication citations (5,665). This is the same basic story that we saw in 2015.
Nine of the ten standards saw a decrease in the number of citations from 2015 to 2016:
In many cases, the number of citations were significantly lower.
I have no insight into why the number of citations went down. Are companies being safer and more compliant? Are OSHA inspectors simply issuing fewer citations, for whatever reason? Feel free to share your own opinion in the comments section.
Only one standard saw an increase in violations cited from 2015 to 2016: Lockout/Tagout. Remember to review that standard, folks.
It's also worth noting that this extended data set from OSHA also includes "Serious" and Willful" violations. We've got lists of the serious and willful violations for you later in this article. Until then, here are some definitions for you (from OSHA):
And with that intro, let's get on with the lists.
Here are the top ten violations cited, listed from the standard with the most citations to the standard with the tenth-most citations.
Total citations- 6,906. Almost 500 fewer than in 2015, when there were 7,402.
Ranking in previous year-#1 last year (same as this year)
Top five sections cited-
Here's a sample of our Fall Prevention and Protection e-learning course.
Total citations- 5,665, a smidge less than 2015's total of 5,681.
Ranking in previous year- #2 last year (same as this year)
Top five sections cited-
And here's a sample of our Hazard Communication e-learning course.
Total citations- 3,900, a good-sized drop from 2015's total of 4,681.
Ranking in previous year- #3 (same as this year)
Top five sections cited-
And here's a sample of our Scaffolding e-learning course.
Total citations- 3,573, a little less than the 2015 total of 3,626.
Ranking in previous year- #4 (same as this year)
Top five sections cited-
We offer quite a few courses on respirators and respiratory protection. Here they are.
Respirator Medical Evaluation and Fit Testing
Total citations- 3,406, a little more than 2015's total of 3,308. Notice this is the only standard on the list that saw an increase in citations instead of a decrease.
Ranking in previous year- #5 (same as this year)
Top five sections cited-
We have several courses related to lockout-tagout and control of hazardous energy. Here they are.
Lockout-Tagout For Authorized Employees
Lockout-Tagout Affected Employees
Blocking and Cribbing for Heavy Equipment
Total violations- 2,855, down a tick from the 2015 total of 3,004.
Ranking in previous year- #6 (same as this year)
Top five sections cited-
Here is a sample of our Forklift Safety e-learning course.
Total violations- 2,625, down a little more than 100 from the 2015 total of 2,732.
Ranking in previous year- #7 (same as this year)
Top five sections cited-
1. 1926.1053(b)(1) Requires ladder side rails to extend at least three feet above an upper landing surface, 1,458
2. 1926.1053(b)(4) Use of ladders restricted to only the purpose for which they were designed, 354
3. 1926.1053(b)(13) The top or top step of a ladder shall be not be used as a step, 235
4. 1926.1053(b)(16) Tagging and removing ladders from service portable ladders with structural defects, 127
5. 1926.1053(b)(5)(i) Non-self-supporting ladders shall be used at an angle such that the horizontal distance from the top support to the foot of the ladder is approximately one-quarter of the working length of the ladder, 65
5. 1926.1053(b)(22) An employee shall not carry an object or load that could cause the employee to lose balance and fall, 75
Here is a sample of our Ladder Safety e-learning course.
Total violations- 2,448, a very little bit less than the previous year's 2,540.
Ranking in previous year- #9 (one lower than this year)
Top five sections cited-
Here is a sample of our machine guarding e-learning course.
Total violations- 1,937, a BIG drop from the 2015 total of 2,624.
Ranking in previous year- #8 (one lower than this year--this was a big drop and bears some scrutiny)
Top five sections cited-
We have several e-learning courses related to electrical hazards. Check out the samples below.
Arc Flash Safety e-learning course.
NFPA 70E e-learning course.
Total violations- 1,704, a pretty good-sized drop compared to the 2015 total of 2,181.
Ranking in previous year- #10 (same as this year)
Top five sections cited-
Electrical Safety General Awareness e-learning course.
Electric Shock e-learning course.
Here are the lists of serious and willful violations for 2016.
Let's start with the definition again:
Serious violation: "in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result, and the employer knew or should have known about the hazard."
Let's look at that definition and break it down into two parts. First, these violations include "a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result." And second, "the employer knew or should have known about the hazard." So that's pretty bad.
Here's the list of serious violations:
What catches the attention here? How about that serious violations for all these standards went DOWN except for serious violations for Hazard Communication, which went UP pretty significantly (3,544 compared to 3,180). I'd guess this had to do with the transition to GHS alignment.
If serious violations are bad, these willful violations are worse.
Here's the definition:
Willful violation: "committed with an intentional disregard of or plain indifference to the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act."
You shouldn't intentionally disregard an OSHA standard and indifference is unacceptable as well.
We're not going to analyze this list in detail--it's pretty short and you can look at it quickly on your own--but we will point out that Fall Protection is on top of this list, just as it is with the general list. We'll also put an asterisk (*) next to standards listed below that don't appear on the larger general list above.
Here's the list:
What catches the attention here? The very significant increase in lockout/tagout willful violations, along with the items that weren't on last year's list...Lead (related to the situation in Flint, Michigan presumably), Excavations (related to recent risk in fatalities, presumably), and Mechanical Power Presses.
That's all we got for you today. Leave any thoughts, comments, or questions you have about this in the comments section.
As a reward for checking these lists so carefully, why not download our free guide to effective safety training?
Learn how to design, create, deliver, and evaluate effective EHS training by following these best practices with our free step-by-step guide.
Jeff Dalto, Senior Learning & Performance Improvement Manager
Jeff is a learning designer and performance improvement specialist with more than 20 years in learning and development, 15+ of which have been spent working in manufacturing, industrial, and architecture, engineering & construction training. Jeff has worked side-by-side with more than 50 companies as they implemented online training. Jeff is an advocate for using evidence-based training practices and is currently completing a Masters degree in Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning from Boise State University. He writes the Vector Solutions | Convergence Training blog and invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.
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Jeff Dalto, Senior Learning & Performance Improvement Manager