Fall protection failures common cause of OSHA fines

Accidents happen at the workplace, and when they do, approximately 25 percent of them are related to falls, according to the National Safety Council. Most of them, however, are preventable, a truism that thousands of business owners paid for – quite literally – in 2018.

At the NSC's National Safety Council Congress and Expo, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration revealed its annual "Top 10 List," detailing the most common safety violations among employers during the fiscal year. At the top, once again, was fall protection.

Since January, OSHA distributed nearly 7,300 fines to companies for not abiding by the General Requirements statute – 1926.501 – of the Fall Protection standard. Compliance requires the use of fall protection equipment, signage and warnings when works entails labor at heights of six feet or more. Even at less than this minimum, fall prevention measures may be required, such as the involvement of heavy machinery that could cause injury.

Top violation is consistently fall protection
OSHA seeks to make the workplace safer by enforcing regulations designed to reduce the risk of injury or death. It pays especially close attention to the construction sector, a leading industry for work-related accidents. Fall protection is consistently the most common violation among workplaces, and in 2018, was well ahead of the second highest violation – Hazard Communication,  issuing 4,552 fines. 

NSC President and CEO Deborah Hersman said the Top 10 list is released annually to get an understanding of what businesses are doing – or not doing – to keep their workers free from harm.

"Knowing how workers are hurt can go a long way toward keeping them safe," Hersman said at the NSC Congress and Expo. "The OSHA Top 10 list calls out areas that require increased vigilance to ensure everyone goes home safely each day.

Workplace injuries occur all too frequently. Based on the NSC's calculations, one occurs somewhere in the U.S. every seven seconds. That translates to 510 per hour, 12,300 per day and 86,500 in a given work week.

In 2016, construction was among the top five occupations wherein on-the-job injuries occurred the most, in terms of work days missed.

Skilled laborers hard to find
The construction industry is in the midst of a worker shortage. Home buying demand is quite intense, with houses selling faster than builders can replace them. According to the most recent figures available from the National Association of Realtors, although the inventory situation is improving, unsold inventory at the current sales pace is equal to approximately 4.4 months. To speed up the process, workers may not take the necessary precautions to avoid injury. Businesses, however, can receive the blame for these decisions, potentially fined tens of thousands of dollars for failure to comply.

The Law Offices of Donald Hudspeth is your one-stop construction law resource. Being fined for safety code violations can be damaging to your reputation, especially if the penalty is unwarranted. Our knowledge of construction law can give your firm the representation and direction you need to resolve your legal predicament. Contact us for a free case intake and evaluation. There's no risk or obligation.

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