OSHA announced the top 10 violations of its safety rules for the fiscal year 2012 (October  2011 to September 2012) at the 2012 NSC (National Safety Council) Congress and Expo in Orlando. NSC is attended this year by an estimated 15,000 safety professionals, executive managers, and other professionals involved in both worker and public safety.

The top 10 list is preliminary in that not all violations have been added to OSHA’s reporting system, but the list order is not expected to change.

Here are OSHA’s Top 10 violations as presented by Patrick Kapust, Deputy Director of the OSHA Directorate of Enforcement Programs:

OSHA Top 10 List

1. Fall Protection in construction (1926.501)        7,250 violations
   Frequently violated requirements included failure to protect open sides and edges, to prevent falls from roofs, and to cover holes.
2. Hazard Communication (1910.1200)                 4,696 violations
   Commonly violated requirements included failure to have a written program, inadequate employee education and training, improper or no labels on containers, and no MSDS’s (SDSs) or lack of access them.
3. Scaffolding in construction (1926.451)              3,814 violations
   Violations included problems with scaffold construction, improper access to scaffolding surfaces, and lack of guardrails.
4. Respiratory Protection (1910.134)                     2,371 violations
   Frequent violations were no written respiratory protection program, poor fit test procedures, unsuitable respirator selection process, and lack of procedures for voluntary use of respirators.
5. Ladders in construction (1926.1053)                 2,310 violations
   Violations included damaged side rails, use of the top ladder step, inappropriate ladder for the job, and excessive loads on ladders.
6. Machine Guarding (1910.212)                           2,097 violations
   Violations included point of operation exposures, inadequate or no anchoring of fixed machinery, and exposure to blades.
7. Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178)              1,993 violations
   Common violations were inadequate operator training and refresher training, and poor conditions of PITs when returned to service after repair.
8. Electrical-wiring methods ( 1910.305)               1,744 violations
   Violations included problems with flexible cords and cables, boxes, and temporary wiring, poor use of extension cords, and using temporary wiring as permanent wiring.
9. Lockout/Tagout (1910.147)                                1,572 violations
   Frequent violations were poor or no energy control procedures, inadequate worker training, and inspections not completed.
10. Electrical-general requirements (1910.303)      1,332 violations
    Common violations were related to electric shock and electrocution exposures.