In mid-September,
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration compiled and released a list of
the top 10 most- cited violations for 2014. The bottom five violations in order
from 6-10 were: Powered Industrial Trucks, Electrical- Wiring Methods, Ladders,
Machine Guarding, and Electrical- General Requirements. The top five starting
with #5 is Lockout/ Tagout which means marking equipment that is unusable with
a tag that lets other workers not to use it. Lockout/Tagout is an effective method because machines and
equipment break down for various reasons such as a piece missing, electrical
wires exposed, etc. and the tagout will be able to show other workers who didn’t
know before, what the issue is with the equipment. Number 4 is Respiratory
Protection. This includes wearing proper breathing masks for workers who are
exposed to harmful air toxins and chemicals. There a lot of companies that,
during inspection, did not enforce rules that made workers wear respiratory
protection. Number 3 is scaffolding which deals with standing on surfaces that
allow workers to reach higher heights when working. The workers weren’t following
proper procedures when it came to having all the necessary tools and being safe
when it came to standing on these surfaces. The second most cited violation was
Hazard Communication. A lot of citations could fall under this category, but to
sum it up workers were not being accountable and considerate if theirs and
their coworker’s safety. People were not telling each other when something was
not safe and also not reminding others when they forgot a safety procedure. The
number one most cited safety violation of 2014 was Fall Protection. This
consists of wearing the Proper Protection Equipment (PPE) that is required
during different high height expenditures. Harnesses weren’t being latched and
tightened properly and small mistakes like this could easily result in an
injury or even be fatal.
