Safety is crucial in the construction and insulation industries, and every project manager wants to complete a project safely. As you are planning your 2024 health and safety training program, here are resources to help your company improve in the areas OSHA most frequently finds violations. Resources for companies and trainers can be found at www.osha.gov/construction/training. Work stress, suicide prevention, and crisis resources can be accessed at www.osha.gov/preventingsuicides.

The following is a list of the top 10 most frequently cited standards following inspections of worksites by federal OSHA for all industries during 2023. OSHA states that it publishes the list to alert employers about these commonly cited standards so they can take steps to find and fix recognized hazards addressed in these and other standards before OSHA shows up. To encourage improvement, available OSHA safety resources are listed with each of the standards in the 2023 list. For comparison of safety trends and weaknesses, the most frequent violations for 2022 follow the 2023 list. OSHA’s fiscal year is from October 1 to September 30, which represents the time period for these citations.

Trends

Fall protection, hazard communication, and ladders remain top safety concerns. Violations increased for scaffolding, while respiratory protection safety increased, thereby moving it down the list from fourth to seventh. Violations for powered industrial trucks increased for 2023. Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), fall protection training, eye and face protection, and machinery and machine guarding all remained in consistent ranking for both years. Hopefully, by utilizing the resources provided, the violations and injuries will be reduced for 2024.

2023 Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards

The Top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety standards for fiscal year 2023 are:

1. Fall Protection: 7,271 violations
   Safety resources: www.osha.gov/stop-falls-stand-down/resources and www.osha.gov/stop-falls General requirements, construction (29 CFR 1926.501)
2. Hazard Communication: 3,213 violations
   Safety resources: www.osha.gov/hazcom General industry (29 CFR 1910.1200)
3. Ladders: 2,978 violations
   Safety resources: osha.gov/publications/bytopic/ladder-safety Construction (29 CFR 1926.1053)
4. Scaffolding: 2,859 violations
   Safety resources: www.osha.gov/scaffolding Construction (29 CFR 1926.451)
5. Powered Industrial Trucks: 2,561 violations
   Safety resources: www.osha.gov/powered-industrial-trucks General industry (29 CFR 1910.178)
6. Control of Hazardous Energy (lockout/tagout): 2,554 violations
   Safety resources: www.osha.gov/control-hazardous-energy General industry (29 CFR 1910.147)
7. Respiratory Protection: 2,481 violations
   Safety resources: www.osha.gov/respiratory-protection General industry (29 CFR 1910.134)
8. Fall Protection Training: 2,112 violations
   Employer Training Guide: www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OSHA3666.pdf
   Training requirements (29 CFR 1926.503)
9. Eye and Face Protection (Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment): 2,074 violations
   Safety resources: www.osha.gov/eye-face-protection Construction (29 CFR 1926.102)
10. Machinery and Machine Guarding: 1,644 violations
    Safety resources: www.osha.gov/machine-guarding General industry 29 CFR 1910.212)

2022 Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards

1. Fall Protection, construction (29 CFR 1926.501)
2. Hazard Communication, general industry (29 CFR 1910.1200)
3. Ladders, construction (29 CFR 1926.1053)
4. Respiratory Protection, general industry (29 CFR 1910.134)
5. Scaffolding, construction (29 CFR 1926.451)
6. Control of Hazardous Energy (lockout/tagout), general industry (29 CFR 1910.147)
7. Powered Industrial Trucks, general industry (29 CFR 1910.178)
8. Fall Protection Training, construction (29 CFR 1926.503)
   9. Eye and Face Protection (Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment),
   construction (29 CFR 1926.102)
   10. Machinery and Machine Guarding, general industry (29 CFR 1910.212)