If you're gearing up for your OSHA inspection, you're likely very busy ensuring that your work site is up to par. However, there are many standards that employers overlook during their preparation, resulting in easily avoided citations. Fortunately, OSHA provides a list of the most common citations, allowing proactive employers to learn from the mistakes of others and fully prepare for their inspections. This is the first part of a two-part series on the six most cited OSHA standards and how you can avoid them in your upcoming inspection.
Fall Protection
On a work site, falls can be one of the most significant dangers to workers, and it's no surprise that this standard is at the top of OSHA's most-cited list. To avoid this citation, employers must make sure that any area that may be a fall risk is properly protected by guardrail, safety net, or personal fall arrest systems.
Fall risks include walking or working areas more than six feet from the ground, uncovered holes, and pits or shafts. Additionally, workers should be protected from falling objects with hardhats, as well as canopy structures or barricades to stop objects from falling over an edge.
Hazard Communication
Protection doesn't stop with guardrails, however. One of the most important ways you can protect your employees is through information. When it comes to toxic chemicals or other workplace hazards, this information can be life or death.
There are several ways that employers must make this information available to their staff, and OSHA checks each and every one. You must inform your workers of the hazards of all chemicals, ensure that their containers are accurately and legibly labeled at all times, maintain safety data sheets, and provide training and safety equipment to all employees.
Scaffolding
If your employees work on scaffolding, there are certain safety measures you have to take to ensure that they're protected at all times. This often-missed standard outlines the weight and tipping moment required of the scaffold, as well as the construction of each structure. This highly complex and very important regulation gives very specific instructions for work site scaffolding to guarantee the safety of your workers.
As you're preparing for your next inspection, be sure to pay particular attention to these three standards. For more information on other important standards, tune into the next segment of this article which will cover the next three commonly cited OSHA standards.