OSHA's Top 10 Citations Of 2017

Earlier this week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced its annual preliminary list of the top 10 most frequently-cited workplace safety violations. And to no surprise, Fall Protection remained No. 1 on the list that varies little year-to-year.

In fact, the top 5 remained the same as last year — with Hazard Communication at No. 2; Scaffolding at 3; Respiratory Protection at 4; and Lockout/Tagout at 5.

Fall Protection violations were responsible for 6,072 citations during NSC's fiscal year 2017, with preliminary figures as of Sept. 5. That number is down 857 year-over-year, or 12.4 percent, after rising by 208 from 2015 to 2016. Fall Protection took the top spot by a wide margin over No. 2 Hazard Communication — which had a whopping 1,501 less violations than a year earlier, a 26.4 percent drop. Scaffolding's citations also dropped by 618; Respiratory citations fell by 13.6 percent; and citations for Lockout/Tagout were down by 15.7 percent.

Ladders moved up one spot from last year's list to No. 6, with its 2,241 citations down by 15.1 percent year-over-year. It leapfrogged over Powered Industrial Trucks at No. 7, which had 24.4 percent fewer citations. Machine Guarding repeated at No. 8 despite a 21.1 percent drop in citations, while Fall Protection - Training Requirements is new to the list at No. 9 with 1,523 citations. Electrical - Wiring Methods repeated rounding out the list at No. 10, with its 1,405 citations down 17.5 percent year-over-year.

"The OSHA Top 10 is more than just a list, it is a blueprint for keeping workers safe," National Safety Council President and CEO Deborah A.P. Hersman said in a press release. "When we all work together to address hazards, we can do the best job possible to ensure employees go home safely each day."