Every year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Safety Council partner to reveal OSHA's top 10 most commonly cited violations.
This latest list, for Fiscal Year 2011, did not deviate significantly from the top 10 violations from previous years.
A violation is where there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and that the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard
The most cited violations for FY 2011 were:
1. Fall protection, 7,139 violations (U.S. Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 1926.501).
2. Scaffolding, 7,069 violations (CFR 1926.451).
3. Hazard communications, 6,538 violations (CFR 1910.1200).
4. Respiratory protection, 3,944 violations (CFR 1910.134).
5. Lockout/tagout, 3,639 violations (CFR 1910.147).
6. Electrical - wiring methods, 3,584 violations (CFR 1910.305).
7. Powered industrial trucks, 3,432 violations (CFR 1910.178).
8. Ladders, 3,244 violations (CFR 1926.1053).9. Electrical - general requirements, 2,863 violations (CFR 1910.303).
10. Machine guarding, 2,728 violations (CFR 1910.212).
11. Recordkeeping forms and recording criteria (CFR 1904.29).
12. Fall protection - training requirements (CFR 1926.503).
13. Personal protective equipment - general requirements (CFR 1910.132).
14. Mechanical power-transmission apparatus (CFR 1910.219).
15. Guarding floor and wall openings and holes (CFR 1910.23).
16. General duty clause (Sec. 5, a, 1).
17. Portable fire extinguishers (CFR 1910.157).
18. Abrasive wheel machinery (CFR 1910.215).
19. Head protection (CFR 1926.100).
20. General safety and health provisions (CFR 1926.20).
Willful violation
The top 10 OSHA standards with the most willful violations cited in FY 2011:
1. Excavation protective system.
2. Fall protection.
3. Process safety management.
4. Grain handling facilities.
5. Asbestos.
6. Lockout/tagout.
7. Machine guarding.
8. Specific excavation requirements.
9. General recording criteria.
10. General duty clause.
A willful violation in one where an employer knowingly commits or commits with plain indifference to the law. The employer either knows that what he or she is doing constitutes a violation, or is aware that a hazardous condition existed and made no reasonable effort to eliminate it.
