America’s Scratched Record of Safety
Back in the 1970′s when I was a child my family owned quite a few music records. Each one stamped into vinyl plastic and subject to damage from the very device that was used to play back our cherished music. Worse yet the records themselves where subject to heat, dust, and high humidity. All of these environmental conditions could and did result in warping of records resulting in more lost music. Because of these product problems and the quest for better sound, engineers worked to develop new and better ways to provide their audience with more reliable play back.
When we look at American industry we have to wonder why many of the clearly repetitive violations and injuries have not been addressed with the same enthusiasm as our quest for better music. After all not only are we saving peoples health but we are also saving lives in many cases when we do improve safety performance. Also for those that are firmly on the side of the bottom line there is a lot of money to be recovered from the bottomless pit that is our list of most cited violations below.
OSHA’s top 10 most cited violations for 2009 are:
- Scaffolding, General – 9,093 violations
- Fall Protection – 6,771 violations
- Hazard Communication – 6,378 violations
- Respiratory Protection – 3,803 violations
- Lockout/Tagout – 3,321 violations
- Electrical, Wiring – 3,079 violations
- Ladders – 3,072 violations
- Powered Industrial Trucks – 2,993 violations
- Electrical, General – 2,556 violations
- Machine Guarding – 2,364 violations
Each of these categories above are ones that have been consistently in the top 10 for years. Yet when you look at them each one has well know and proven ways to minimize or or eliminate the associated hazards. If nothing else in most cases procedures just like the ones that we all use to produce quality products can be put in place and enforced consistently to manage a lot of employee exposure. The next time you are out where your work is conducted look for problems with any of the above categories and resolve to fix what you find then tell all the employees in the area what you have done and why. If it involves behavior from employees educate them, follow up on both the good and the bad, it all starts with one act at a time.
Below are some basic inspections that you can use to get started with reviewing the topics above. They are not comprehensive and are not meant to be, however, they can help open your eyes to whats required and why.
- Electrical General Requirements
- General Work Environment Checklist
- Employee Safety Inspection Checklist
