Workers in Pennsylvania may face an array of dangers on the job, especially those who work at heights and face the risk of falls and the resulting severe injuries. At the 2018 National Safety Council Congress, a deputy director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration revealed the regulator’s top 10 workplace safety violations for the previous year. The statistics were calculated between October 2017 and September 2018, and the results reflected some persistent safety problems that have continued over the years.
The citation issued most commonly for employers violating federal safety rules was the same as it has been for the previous several years: failure to provide fall protection. Employers have a responsibility to provide workers operating at heights with protective equipment that can help to prevent falls or lessen their effects when an incident occurs. However, 7,270 citations were issued in the past year for employers that failed to provide necessary gear to workers near unprotected edges or working on roofs. Fall protection also came up in eighth place on the list as 1,982 violations were issued for employers that failed to provide proper training. In some cases, workers did not receive necessary training; in other cases, the training was not provided by a qualified person.
Other issues with protective gear also were prominent on the list. There were 3,118 violations of rules about respiratory protection, including failure to provide medical evaluations or to establish a relevant program. This made respiratory safety violations the fourth most common issue discovered.
When workers are injured on the job, they may suffer catastrophic consequences and permanent disabilities. If these injuries were caused by an employer’s failure to abide by safety standards, a workers’ compensation lawyer may help injured workers to protect their rights and seek the compensation they deserve.
