Patrick Kapust, of OSHA, announced the top ten violations at this year’s National Safety Council’s Congress and Expo.  The list tends to be similar from year to year with the top few moving positions, Fall Protection made it to number one this year.  EHS Today listed the top ten and the number of violations as stated below:

1. Fall protection – 7,139 violations. “Falls continue to be the leading cause of fatalities in construction,” said Kapust.
2. Scaffolding – 7,069 violations. In 2010, Kapust said, 37 workers died from scaffolding-related incidents.
3. Hazard communication – 6,538 violations. “Employees have the right to know and identify hazards,” Kapust pointed out.
4. Respiratory protection – 3,944 violations.
5. Lockout/tagout – 3,639 violations
6. Electrical – wiring methods – 3,584 violations
7. Powered industrial trucks – 3,432 violations
8. Ladders – 3,244 violations.
9. Electrical – general requirements – 2,863 violations. According to 2009 BLS data, 1,600 nonfatal injuries were attributed to electrical shock.
10. Machine guarding. Kapust pointed out that in 2010, 90 workers were killed in machinery. In 2009, 5,930 occupational amputations were reported.

While fall protection includes aspects such as the structural strength of the floor, guardrail systems, safety net, personal fall arrest systems, covers over holes, and canopy structures to keep objects from falling I think protecting these areas against slip and falls is also very important.   Even with a guardrail employees can still slip and fall causing numerous injuries.  SLIPNOT helps protect against falls by providing high traction, long lasting slip resistant metal products.  Products can be used on catwalks, scaffolding, handrails, ladder rungs, stair treads and crossovers among countless other applications.  These products meet and exceed all recommendations by OSHA.

Protect employees from all types of falls by following OSHA’s fall protection guidelines and by investing in a high quality slip resistant flooring product.

Walter, Laura. “OSHA’s Top Ten Violations List Highlights Fall Protection, Hazcom Violations.” www.ehstoday.com November 2, 2011.  November 3, 2011 <http://ehstoday.com/standards/osha/OSHA-top-10-citations-0202/>