The more things change, the more nothing seems to have changed at all. Yes, we’re talking about OSHA’s annual reveal of the most frequent workplace safety violations. The 10 categories on last year’s list all appear on the list again this year—the violations haven’t changed; only their relative position on the Top 10 list. And once again, as per usual, the number one violation was Fall Protection—General Requirements (and in fact, another category related to fall protection, focusing on Training Requirements, finished in 7th place, up one position from 8th place last year. And Ladders retained its hold on 3rd place again this year).
Scott Ketcham, director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, presented the preliminary list at the recent National Safety Council (NSC) Safety Congress & Expo in Orlando, Fla. Given the timing of the NSC show, Ketcham clarified that Top 10 list reflected violations that occurred from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 5, 2024. (Also, the results are based solely on federal OSHA data; data collected from state OSHA agencies is not included in the list.)
One encouraging sign, at least, is that 8 of the 10 categories had fewer violations this year than in the previous year.
As Doug Parker, Assistant Secretary of Labor and head of OSHA, said in a keynote address at the NSC show, “One of the reasons why the Top 10 remains unchanged from year to year is that these activities are recurring. Employees working in construction, for example, are going to continue to work at heights.” And OSHA, he pointed out, tends to come into workplace situations after an incident has occurred.
In a statement, Lorraine Martin, NSC president and CEO, said, “While 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. As a safety community, it’s critical we come together to acknowledge these persistent trends and identify solutions to better protect our workforces.”
You can check out slideshows from previous years to see how much the list has… or hasn’t… changed:
Top 10 OSHA Violations of 2023
Top 10 OSHA Violations of 2022
