Plibrico: POSHA releases regulation violation list for 2017

2018-04-23

Apr. 21, 2018 - The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, has released their list of the most frequently cited regulation violations for 2017 – and there are a lot.

Each year OSHA releases its violations accounting, and one can only imagine what the OSHA Compliance Officers encountered during the year to develop such an eye-opening list.

Reviewing the report, Chris Smith, Safety Manager at Plibrico, says, “Whatever misfortunes that fell upon the industry to form the list – whether from targeted inspections, complaints phoned into the area OSHA Office, or reported injury or death, we must all consider how it applies to us in the refractory industry.

“This list gives us important direction for investigating our own backyard to see how we stack up against OSHA’s regulations,” continues Smith. “It will help us to navigate through some of the pitfalls that our Industry has suffered throughout the previous year, resulting in OSHA citations.”

These are the most common OSHA regulations and violations:

1. 1926.501	Fall Protection	6,887 violations
2. 1910.1200	Hazard Communications	4,652 violations
3. 1926.451	Scaffolding	3,697 violations
4. 1910.134	Respiratory Protection	3,381 violations
5. 1910.147	Lockout / Tagout	3,131 violations
6. 1926.1053	Ladders	2,567 violations
7. 1910.178	Powered Industrial Trucks	2,349 violations
8. 1910.212	Machine Guarding	2,109 violations
9. 1926.503	Fall Protection Training	1,724 violations
10. 1910.305	Electric Wiring	1,530 violations

“Safety is one of Plibrico’s core values and a critical consideration in refractory installation and construction – not only for the Plibrico company, but our installation partners as well,” says Plibrico CEO and President Brad Taylor. “Because of our commitment to safety and as a value-added service to our partners, Plibrico invests in a full-time, on-staff Corporate Safety Manager. Our team offers services such as safety planning, OSHA/MSHA training, site inspections including audits, and safety monitoring before and during installations.”

Through the Lens of Worst Possible Outcomes

Smith’s view on the OSHA regulations is that even the least worrisome regulations will still alert the vigilant safety officers of potential accident situations that can be prevented.

“My approach is to view each regulation for the worst-case scenario,” he advises. “For example, OSHA’s #2 candidate is Hazard Communications. In the worst-case scenario, without the proper review of the SDS – Safety Data Sheet, we can imagine how a new, flammable, volatile chemical introduced to the worksite could expose an uninformed or unaware employee to flash-burns. That is unacceptable, and preventable.”

“At Plibrico, our goal is zero incidents,” says Taylor. “We believe that most accidents are avoidable through diligence and focus on basic safety procedures. Robust training and communications plans with our employees and partners is key. Foresight and discipline can prevent injury and possible death for any employee, not to mention the loss of property and production capacity.”