Fall Protection – General Requirements is, for the 13th consecutive year, the most frequently cited OSHA standard for fiscal year 2023.
The annual list of OSHA’s top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety standards was announced Oct. 24 at the 2023 National Safety Council (NSC) Congress & Expo.
“Although incredible advancements are made in safety each year, we continue to see many of the same types of violations appear on OSHA’s Top 10 list,” said Lorraine Martin, NSC president and CEO. “As a safety community, we must come together to acknowledge these persistent trends and identify solutions to better protect workers.”
As Martin pointed out, the list typically contains many of the same cited standards each year. In fact, the 2023 list contains the exact same standards as those on the 2022 list, although their order has shuffled around a little.
OSHA’s top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety standards for FY 2023 are:
- Fall Protection – General Requirements (1926.501): 7,271 violations
- Hazard Communication (1910.1200): 3,213
- Ladders (1926.1053): 2,978
- Scaffolding (1926.451): 2,859
- Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178): 2,561
- Lockout/Tagout (1910.147): 2,554
- Respiratory Protection (1910.134): 2,481
- Fall Protection – Training Requirements (1926.503): 2,112
- Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment – Eye and Face Protection (1926.102): 2,074
- Machine Guarding (1910.212): 1,644
Hazard Communication remains in the No. 2 position, where it was located last year. The No. 3 spot was taken by Ladders, which moved up from its 2022 spot at No. 4. Respiratory Protection fell from the No. 3 spot to No. 7.
Powered Industrial Trucks and Scaffolding also moved up on the list in 2023. Scaffolding moved into the No. 4 spot from its place at No. 5 on the 2022 list and Powered Industrial Trucks moved from No. 7 into No. 5.