OSHA Top 10 Safety Violation for Fiscal Year 2014

Source: U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colorado
October 22, 2014

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently published a list of the top-10 safety violations for the last fiscal year.

From 1 to 10, those violations are: 

1. fall protection in construction
2. hazard communication
3. construction scaffolding
4. respiratory protection
5. lockout and tag-out
6. powered industrial trucks
7. electrical wiring methods
8. construction ladders
9. machine guarding
10. general electrical requirements.

'"General electrical requirements' is a broad category for miscellaneous electrical hazards, such as failing to safeguard an electrical circuit," said Cliff Tebbe, Academy Safety Office deputy director.

According to an OSHA news release, the list is preliminary and the administration will publish another list containing finalized information.



"These types of safety oversights are common in general industry, and the Academy has similar workplace environments," Tebbe said. "These are things to look for - the usual suspects when it comes to work center hazards."

The fundamental principal to maintaining a safe work environment here is "early detection and rapid correction," Tebbe said.

"Safety is everyone's business," he said. "Your safety program is only as strong as what people are willing to walk by. If you are willing to walk by a hazard, you are willing to weaken the program and expose another Airman to that hazard."

Visit https://cs3.eis.af.mil/sites/OO-SE-AF-18/default.aspx for more on-duty hazard information and to read about Quest for Zero, an Air Force occupational safety campaign.

My Commentary:

This past year there was a major update to the Fall Protection Standard, mainly reflecting a global perspective of safety by incorporating ANSI standards. Being that this is new, it will take time to get use to. Couple that with the construction industry's history of "subcontractors cutting corners," it is obvious why fall protection in construction is number 1, and construction ladders and construction scaffolding are in the top 10 also.

Thank you for reading.