OSHA Reveals Top 10 Workplace Safety Violations For 2019

For the ninth consecutive year, Fall Protection – General Requirements topped the list of OSHA’s most cited violations on the job.

For the ninth consecutive year, Fall Protection – General Requirements (1926.501) tops the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) list of most frequently cited workplace safety violations. In conjunction with the National Safety Council, Patrick Kapust, deputy director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, presented the preliminary Top 10 list of workplace safety violations for fiscal year 2019 today at the NSC 2019 Congress & Expo in San Diego.

Workplace Safety Violations
Patrick Kapust, deputy director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, presented the top 10 list of Workplace Safety Violations at the NSC 2019 Congress & Expo in San Diego.

As evidenced by Fall Protection – General Requirements’ consistent placement in the list, the rankings for OSHA’s Top 10 most cited violations typically vary little from year to 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, president and CEO of the National Safety Council. “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:

Workplace Safety Violations“Look at your own workplace and see where you can find solutions,” Kapust said during his presentation of the list. “These are common violations. They’ve been around for a while. The answers are out there.”

Finalized data, along with a more in-depth look at the Top 10 violations for 2019, will be published in the December edition of the National Safety Council’s Safety+Health magazine.

*Preliminary figures as of Aug. 15, 2019