Fall hazards, hazard communication lead 2016 OSHA top violations

Fall protection and hazard communication were OSHA’s most frequently cited workplace safety violations for fiscal year 2016.

The annual list of violations is nearly identical to OSHA’s 2016 list, indicating similar safety issues persist in the construction industry.

The Top 10 violations (number of violations cited) for FY 2016 are:

1. Fall Protection, 1926.501 (C) (6,929)

2. Hazard Communication, 1910.1200 (5,677)

3. Scaffolds, 1926.451 (C) (3,906)

4. Respiratory Protection, 1910.134 (3,585)

5. Lockout/Tagout, 1910.147 (3,414)

6. Powered Industrial Trucks, 1910.178 (2,860)

7. Ladders, 1926.1053 (C) (2,639)

8. Machine Guarding, 1910.212 (2,451)

9. Electrical Wiring, 1910.305 (1,940)

10. Electrical, General Requirements, 1910.303 (1,704)

This is a preliminary list that will be updated in December.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.