OSHA’s Top 10 most cited safety violations for 2019, with resources to make your workplace safer

by Brianna Crandall — October 7, 2019 — The nonprofit National Safety Council (NSC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced the preliminary Top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety violations for fiscal year 2019. Patrick Kapust, deputy director of OSHA directorate of enforcement programs, presented the Top 10 on the Expo floor as part of the NSC 2019 Congress and Expo, said to be the world’s largest annual gathering of safety professionals.

While the rankings for OSHA’s Top 10 most cited violations typically vary little from year to year, it is important to refresh on this critical information, asserts NSC. Fall Protection – General Requirements (1926.501) tops this year’s list for the ninth consecutive year. Meanwhile, Eye and Face Protection (1926.102), a newcomer to last year’s list, remains in the No. 10 spot.

Lorraine M. Martin, NSC president and CEO, stated:

Far too many preventable injuries and deaths occur on the job. The OSHA Top 10 list is a helpful guide for understanding just how adept America’s businesses are in complying with the basic rules of workplace safety. This list should serve as a challenge for us to do better as a nation and expect more from employers. It should also serve as a catalyst for individual employees to re-commit to safety.

The Top 10 for FY 2019* are:

1. Fall Protection – General Requirements (1926.501) 6,010
2. Hazard Communication (1910.1200) 3,671
3. Scaffolding (1926.451) 2,813
4. Lockout/Tagout (1910.147) 2,606
5. Respiratory Protection (1910.134) 2,450
6. Ladders (1926.1053) 2,345
7. Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178) 2,093
8. Fall Protection – Training Requirements (1926.503) 1,773
9. Machine Guarding (1910.212) 1,743
10. Eye and Face Protection (1926.102) 1,411

* Preliminary figures as of August 15, 2019

A more in-depth look at the Top 10 violations for 2019 will be published in the December edition of Safety+Health magazine, a National Safety Council publication.

OSHA provides numerous resources related to the above violations, with guidance for employers and employees to prevent workplace hazards, on its Topic Pages and elsewhere on the OSHA site. Topic Pages and eTools related to the Top 10 safety violations include:

Numerous Work Safety resources are also available on The National Safety Council website.