OSHA safety violations increase in 2015

Fall protection, lockout/tagout lead the way as overall violations increase by 4%.

By Chris Vavra, production editor, CFE Media October 2, 2015

The preliminary OSHA top 10 violations for 2015 showed little overall movement as fall protection was once again the number one violation. Patrick Kapust, deputy director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, presented the Top 10 at the 2015 National Safety Council (NSC) Congress & Expo, the world’s largest gathering of safety professionals.

"In injury prevention, we go where the data tell us to go," said NSC president and CEO Deborah A.P. Hersman. "The OSHA Top 10 list is a roadmap that identifies the hazards you want to avoid on the journey to safety excellence."

The top 10 ranking varied little from 2014, and in fact vary only slightly from year to year. The only movement came from the categories of ladders and electrical – wiring methods, which swapped the seventh and eight spots.

There were 34,436 violations overall in 2015, a 4% increase from 2014. Fall protection violations, which dropped by a third in 2014, were up 10% in 2015, and lockout/tagout violations were up 11% in 2015. The only violations that showed any decrease were in the category of electrical – wiring methods and electrical –general requirements.

The Top 10 for FY 2015, their OSHA hazard standard citation, and the 2014 total and ranking for each category are:

  1. Fall Protection (1926.501) – 6,721 (6,143, 1st)
  2. Hazard Communication (1910.1200) – 5,192 (5,161, 2nd)
  3. Scaffolding (1926.451) – 4,295 (4,029, 3rd)
  4. Respiratory Protection (1910.134) – 3,305 (3,223, 4th)
  5. Lockout/Tagout (1910.147) – 3,002 (2,704, 5th)
  6. Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178) – 2,760 (2,662, 6th)
  7. Ladders (1926.1053) – 2,489 (2,448, 8th)
  8. Electrical – Wiring Methods (1910.305) – 2,404 (2,490, 7th)
  9. Machine Guarding (1910.212) – 2,295 (2,200, 9th)
  10. Electrical – General Requirements (1910.303) – 1,973 (2,056, 10th)

– Chris Vavra is production editor, CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com.

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