Every year OSHA publishes their list of top 10 safety violations of the year. This list is designed to help employers understand where their current safety programs might be lacking, and where the workforce as a whole can improve their safety training efforts. While fall protection, respiratory protection, and scaffolding are almost always on the list, you’ll note that fall protection is on the list in two places this year: fall protection-general requirements and fall protection-training requirements, indicating that there is still room for improvement when educating our employees about fall protection.
Here are the top 10 OSHA violations for the 2017 fiscal year, with their corresponding number of violations:
- Fall protection — General Requirements — 6,072
- Hazard Communication — 4,176
- Scaffolding — 3,288
- Respirator Protection — 3,097
- Lockout/Tagout — 2,877
- Ladders — 2,241
- Powered Industrial Trucks — 2,162
- Machine Guarding — 1,933
- Fall Protection — Training Requirements — 1,523
- Electrical — Wiring Methods — 1,405
This top 10 list should function as more than just a summary of what happened in the past year, but instead be a guide to the top 10 areas you may want to review within your own safety training program to see if there is room for improvement.
If you’re unsure where to start when beefing up your training program for the next year, head to the OSHA website. Read up on the OSHA requirements, and take the time to do a bit of research yourself. Where has your safety plan missed the mark this year? Could your workplace be in violation in any of these 10 areas? The more you educate yourself on OSHA requirements and your workplace incident data, the more empowered you can be in reinforcing your own workplace safety.
This year, as you work to improve your safety training plan, be sure to identify where your company can make positive changes. Whether it’s in training, execution of proper procedure, or even employee recognition, all areas of your safety program work together to take that next step forward in making the workplace safer. For more information on how to improve in all areas mentioned on OSHA’s top 10 list of violations, check out our blog about OSHA’s 2016 list. It offers some great tips on where to start identifying problems and working towards solutions in all these important safety areas.
And if you find your company’s primary initiative this year is to improve your safety training program, be sure to take a look at eSafety Training. A comprehensive, easy-to-use learning management system that provides simple reporting and a multitude of safety training courses, eSafety Training might just be the safety training boost your company needs.
