By Dr. Roy Littlefield, III
Recently, SSDA-AT participated in a Small Business Labor Safety Roundtable for OSHA/MSHA. In attendance was Patrick Kapust, Deputy Director of Enforcement Programs, Directorate of Enforcement, Occupational Safety and Health Administration to give an update on enforcement data and trends involving small businesses around the country.
As you should know by now, a new severe injury reporting rule went into effect on January 1, 2015. The rule says that employers must report all hospitalizations, amputations, and loss of an eye within 24 hours. OSHA is reporting that since January 1st it has been receiving between 200 and 250 reports a week. (This will result in approximately 12,000 reports annually.) Of those reports, about 40% have resulted in inspections. (This will add approximately 5,000 inspections annually.)
In 2012, OSHA conducted 40,691 inspections. In 2013, they conducted a comparable 39,228. The trend appears to decline as in 2014, OSHA reported only 36,163 inspections were conducted, but as Directorate of Enforcement Patrick Kapust explained, “Low inspection numbers in 2014 were a result of the government shutdown; if not for the shutdown inspections would have neared 40,000.” With the new severe injury reporting rule in effect, inspections are expected to hit record numbers in 2015.
Here are the list of the most cited standards from 2014 OSHA inspections:
- Fall Protections
- Hazard Communication
- Scaffolding
- Respiratory Protection
- Powered Industrial Trucks
- Lockout/Tagout
- Ladders
- Electrical, Wiring Methods
- Machine Guarding
- Electrical, General Requirements
For more information on OSHA inspections please visit: https://www.osha.gov/dep/
