Business
OSHA Business Violations – What do you Need to Know
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, commonly known as OSHA, is a federal agency under the United States Department of Labor. Its primary mission is to ensure that the work environments where your employees operate, especially in construction, are safe and sound. In pursuit of this mission, OSHA identifies and addresses various violations that can compromise workplace safety. Let’s take a closer look at these violations, while also emphasizing the importance of online OSHA 30 Hour construction training.
What Are OSHA Violations?
Do you know employment in construction is likely to grow by 5.8 % in 2026? Nearly millions of workers are actively working on construction sites. OSHA act on the behalf of all these workers and make sure their rights are saved.
Osha violations can result in considerable losses. Therefore, your company and employees must be aware of them. When your employee shows negligence towards the rules and regulations set by OSHA, they breach the protocol. Depending on the severity of the violation, you will be charged between $14,502 to $15,625 per violation.
Osha Violations: A Warning for Small Businesses:
As a start-up or small business, the last thing you want is to face substantial penalties for not adhering to the OSHA standards of safety. These policies do not only advocate for your workers but also your company’s reputation. Ensuring compliance through measures like the NY OSHA 30 Spanish is crucial for your business’s success.
Protecting your employees from accidents will boost your labor force and help your company gain a credible image in the market.
Let’s learn about the types of violations so your employees can be wary of them and avoid potential damage.
1. Scaffolding (Construction):
Scaffolding is a wooden structure that supports the employees working at construction sites to help them reach highrise buildings.
In the year 2022, scaffolding violations were 2058 in total. This violation occurs when employees adopt a cavalier attitude toward scaffolding safety. Qualified training, fall protection, and safety measures for certain heights come under scaffolding safety guidelines. If your employees overlook them, they are likely to bear significant losses.
2. Powered Industrial Trucks (Construction)
According to the reports of 2022, accidents due to powered industrial trucks were 1794.
Under this category comes your life trucks when they are used for equipment transportation. They can be operated automatically as well as manually. Your employee’s safety is at stake if they do not follow the guidelines, as a lot of mishaps take place during the lifting.
Heavy loading or not properly examining the machine’s operation increases the risk of equipment falling. Since these equipment are made of heavy material, they cause severe physical injuries to the employees.
3. Eye and Face Protection
The face and eyes are the most delicate part of a person’s body. Occupational accidents are a major contributing factor to the loss of visual ability and facial injury of your employees.
Accidental spilling due to chemical, environmental, radiological, or mechanical irritants can be hazardous for your employees. OSHA stresses its guidelines related to eyes and facial protection in its safety manual.
4. Respiratory protection (General Industry)
Often employees work in an environment that is full of toxins and chemicals. These pollutants deteriorate the respiratory health of your workers. OSHA prevents your employees from having fatal health conditions by making sure there is compliance with respiratory system protection guidelines.
Unfortunately, 2527 respiratory protection violations were made in the year 2011. According to the Health and Safety Executive Organization, exposing yourself to contaminated air and breathing in it increases your chances of having lung cancer, silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma.
5. Control of Hazardous Energy (lockout/tagout), general industry
Guidelines under this safety protocol firmly set instructions to keep workers safe when they fix machines or equipment.
Lockout and tagging techniques are used to keep people alert in their surroundings. These labels warn others that the machine is out of order or currently in use.
6. Machinery and Machine Guarding (general industry):
OSHA directs companies to practice caution and sensitivity when transferring the machine path from one place to another because they result in injuries and fatalities.
The total number of machine guarding violations in the year 2022 was 1,370. Showing carelessness when handling machinery is not only detrimental to the company but can be fatal for employees as well.
7. Ladder Safety
The chances of tripping increase when working on a ladder. Workers use different ladders for different purposes, and each type has its specific protocol.
When they are not looked after, it causes serious injuries. Poor compliance with ladder safety guidelines resulted in 2,143 violations in 2022.
8. Fall protection (Construction)
5260 fall protection violations were reported in the year 2022. It was also the top-ranked violation in the same year. Fall protection plans strategize how employees can maintain safety when working at heights.
Collapsing from an elevated building can risk the lives of your employees.
9. Hazard Communication
2,424 Hazard Communication violations were reported in 2022, which is concerning. Workers work with chemicals that can be both a skin and a health hazard.
While working with detrimental compounds, they are inattentive to details like the availability of chemicals, labeling them, reading safety manuals for each chemical, and proper communication. They lack knowledge about the chemicals and are unable to communicate effectively.
Types of violations: Based on Severity
Osha violations are of various kinds based on their severity.
Serious
If an accident turns out to be fatal, it comes under the “Serious violations.” Consequently, these types of violations result in serious consequences as well.
You will be subject to a minimum fine of 1036 Dollars and a maximum fine of 14 502 dollars.
Other-Than-Serious
Violations that result in an impact on the health of the workers but are not fatal are labeled as other than serious violations. Penalty charges are the same as the serious category but can be reduced to 95%.
Willful or Repeated
This type of violation reflects the carelessness of the workers. Despite being warned thrice, when he conducts the same offense, it will be categorized as a full or repeated violation. Penalties of up to $145,027 will be charged as a consequence.
Conclusion
With each year, OSHA is making advancements in its guidelines to maximize the safety of your workers. For a prosperous and productive working environment, it is important that you vigilantly monitor the procedures determined by OSHA for every category.
Implement this as a collective responsibility in your workers to make your working environment free from accidents, injuries, and hazards.
Kenneth is a proud native of sydney, born and raised there. However, he pursued his education abroad and studied in Australia. Kenneth has worked as a journalist for almost a decade, making valuable contributions to prominent publications such as Yahoo News and The Verge. Currently, he serves as a journalist for The Hear Up, where he focuses on covering climate and science news. You can reach Kenneth at [email protected].
