The National Safety Council and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the preliminary Top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety violations for fiscal year 2019. Patrick Kapust, deputy director of OSHA directorate of enforcement programs, presented the Top 10 on the Expo floor as part of the NSC 2019 Congress and Expo.

Fall Protection – General Requirements (1926.501) tops this year’s list for the ninth consecutive year. Eye and Face Protection (1926.102), a newcomer to last year’s list, remains in the No. 10 spot.

“Far too many preventable injuries and deaths occur on the job,” said Lorraine M. Martin, NSC president and CEO. “The OSHA Top 10 list is a helpful guide for understanding just how adept America’s businesses are in complying with the basic rules of workplace safety. This list should serve as a challenge for us to do better as a nation and expect more from employers. It should also serve as a catalyst for individual employees to re-commit to safety.”

The Top 10 for FY 2019* are:

  1. Fall Protection – General Requirements (1926.501) -- 6,010
  2. Hazard Communication (1910.1200) -- 3,671
  3. Scaffolding (1926.451) -- 2,813
  4. Lockout/Tagout (1910.147) -- 2,606
  5. Respiratory Protection (1910.134) -- 2,450
  6. Ladders (1926.1053) -- 2,345
  7. Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178) -- 2,093
  8. Fall Protection – Training Requirements (1926.503) -- 1,773
  9. Machine Guarding (1910.212) --  1,743
  10. Eye and Face Protection (1926.102) -- 1,411

*Preliminary figures as of Aug. 15, 2019