OSHA’s Effect in the Workplace

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration aims to ensure employee safety and health in the United States by working with employers and employees to create better working environments. Since OSHA’s inception in 1971, nonfatal occupational injury and illness rates have dropped 60 percent, while occupational fatality rates have fallen to the lowest annual preliminary total since 1992. At the same time, U.S. employment has doubled to nearly 115 million private sector employees at over 8 million worksites.

Management’s Role in Safety (from Inder Science)

Safety climate is a leading performance indicator that can provide insight into safety performance before accidents have occurred. Managerial variables have emerged as a primary determinant of safety climate in empirical research. In order to investigate the mechanisms of that influence a theoretical model was developed to test the relationship between management commitment and worker risk-taking. Workforce perceptions of safety climate (n=1026) were collected using the Health and Safety Executive climate survey tool and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The tested model revealed that the relationship between management commitment and supervisor involvement with risk-taking behaviors was mediated by knowledge and training. Additionally, a positive attitude towards risk taking (i.e. not engaging in risk taking behaviors) was related to enhanced feelings of workers’ responsibility for safety and more positive appraisals of senior management commitment. Managers may find the model useful when attempting to improve safety climate.

(Basically, in research lingo, the excerpt above says that if the management takes safety seriously, the workers behave better on the job.)

Most Frequently Cited OSHA Standards

Your employees are your greatest asset and essential in keeping your business successful. Where would you be without them?

To help you make the most effective safety and training decisions Safety Training Specialists, Inc. is sending you the Cal OSHA published lists of most frequently cited standards and most costly citations.

The following were the top 10 most frequently cited standards:

• Scaffolding, general requirements, construction (29 CFR 1926.451) [related topic page]
• Fall protection, construction (29 CFR 1926.501) [related topics page]
• Hazard communication standard, general industry (29 CFR 1910.1200) [related topic page]
• Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), general industry (29 CFR 1910.147) [related topic page]
• Respiratory protection, general industry (29 CFR 1910.134) [related topic page]
• Powered industrial trucks, general industry (29 CFR 1910.178) [related topic page]
• Electrical, wiring methods, components and equipment, general industry (29 CFR 1910.305) [related topic page]
• Ladders, construction (29 CFR 1926.1053) [related topic page]
• Machines, general requirements, general industry (29 CFR 1910.212) [related topics page]
• Electrical systems design, general requirements, general industry (29 CFR 1910.303) [related topic page]

The following are the standards for which OSHA assessed the highest:

• Scaffolding, general requirements, construction (29 CFR 1926.451) [related topic page]
• Fall protection, construction (29 CFR 1926.501) [related topics page]
• Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), general industry (29 CFR 1910.147) [related topic page]
• Excavations, requirements for protective systems, construction (29 CFR 1926.652) [related topics page]
• Machines, general requirements, general industry (29 CFR 1910.212) [related topics page]
• General duty clause (Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act)
• Powered industrial trucks, general industry (29 CFR 1910.178) [related topic page]
• Excavations, general requirements, construction (29 CFR 1926.651) [related topics page]
• Aerial lifts (29 CFR 1926.453) [related topics page]
• Guarding floor and wall openings and holes, general industry (29 CFR 1910.23) [related topics page]

For more detailed information, visit Frequently Cited OSHA Standards.

At that site, you can generate a report on the most frequently cited federal or state OSHA standards by your SIC code and the number of employees in your establishment.

We just had a client make an interesting observation. He believes that since construction and manufacturing industries are so slow, the chances of having an unannounced Cal OSHA visit are greater. If OSHA is making the same number of inspections, but there are fewer jobs and businesses active, then each company has a higher percentage chance of getting visited. This is probably especially true for construction. Something to consider.

MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE IN COMPLIANCE WHEN YOU GET VISITED. Contact us today!