Top 10 willful, repeat and serious OSHA violations for 2011

All employers dread getting the news an incident has occured out on the floor… however, what they dread even more is when OSHA decides that the incident is significant enough to warrant more stringent penalties and enforcement action. OSHA reserves three classes of violations for this type of worker safety incident: willful, repeat and serious.

Willful Violation: A violation that the employer knowingly commits or commits with plain indifference to the law. The employer either knows that what he or she is doing constitutes a violation, or is aware that a hazardous condition existed and made no reasonable effort to eliminate it. Penalties of up to $70,000 may be proposed for each willful violation, with a minimum penalty of $5,000 for each violation. A proposed penalty for a willful violation may be adjusted downward, depending on the size of the business and its history of previous violations. Usually, no credit is given for good faith.

If an employer is convicted of a willful violation of a standard that has resulted in the death of an employee, the offense is punishable by a court-imposed fine or by imprisonment for up to six months, or both. A fine of up to $250,000 for an individual, or $500,000 for a corporation, may be imposed for a criminal conviction.

Serious Violation: A violation where there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and that the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard. A mandatory penalty of up to $7,000 for each violation is proposed. A penalty for a serious violation may be adjusted downward, based on the employer’s good faith, history of previous violations, the gravity of the alleged violation, and size of business.

Repeat Violation: A violation of any standard, regulation, rule, or order where, upon reinspection, a substantially similar violation can bring a fine of up to $70,000 for each such violation. To be the basis of a repeated citation, the original citation must be final; a citation under contest may not serve as the basis for a subsequent repeated citation.

Every year OSHA compiles the statistics for willful, serious and repeat violations and publishes the most frequently cited of each type. Here are the following top 10 for each violation category:

 The top 10 federal standards with the most willful violations cited in fiscal year 2011 (Oct. 1, 2010 to Sept. 30, 2011):

1. Excavation protective system (1926.652), 84 violations
2. Fall protection (1926.501), 67 violations
3. Process safety management (1910.119), 45 violations
4. Grain handling facilities (1910.272), 42 violations
5. Asbestos (1926.1101), 37 violations
6. Lockout/tagout (1910.147), 35 violations
7. Machine guarding (1910.212), 25 violations
8. Specific excavation requirements (1926.651), 24 violations
9. General recording criteria (1904.7), 23 violations, and
10. General duty clause (5A.0001), 22 violations.

 The top 10 federal standards with the most repeat violations cited in FY 2011 are:

1. Fall protection, 646 violations
2. Scaffolding (1926.451), 439 violations
3. Excavations, protective systems, 119 violations
4. Hazard communication (1910.1200), 112 violations
5. Lockout/tagout, 109 violations
6. Electrical, wiring methods (1910.305), 92 violations
7. Ladders (1926.1053), 89 violations
8. Machine guarding, 88 violations
9. Electrical, general requirements (1910.303), 86 violations, and
10. Aerial lifts (1926.453), 81 violations.

For comparison, here are the top 10 federal standards with the most serious violations cited for FY2011:

1. Scaffolding, 6,324 violations
2. Fall protection, 6,022 violations
3. Hazard communication, 3,953 violations
4. Lockout/tagout, 2,926 violations
5. Electrical, wiring methods, 2,835 violations
6. Ladders, 2,787 violations
7. Powered industrial trucks (1910.178), 2,582 violations
8. Machine guarding, 2,433 violations
9. Respiratory protection (1910.134), 2,361 violations, and
10. Electrical, general requirements, 2,198 violations.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us here at Safetec.