OSHA’s Top 10 Most Cited Standards for FY 2024
Let’s review each standard on this year’s list as well as OSHA’s guidelines and requirements.
In keeping with tradition, OSHA was on hand to reveal its Top 10 Most Cited Standards at the 2024 National Safety Council Safety Congress & Expo. At the event, Scott Ketcham, director of the directorate of enforcement programs for OSHA, led the session presenting the preliminary data for fiscal year 2024 (FY24). Although this data was not final and is subject to change, let’s take a look at OSHA’s Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24).
10) Machine Guarding
As in previous years, Machine Guarding rounds out the OSHA top 10, though the number of cited violations dropped from 1,644 in FY23 to 1,541 cited during FY24. The OSHA standard 1910.212 outlines the requirements for machinery and machine guarding, including machines requiring guards such as power presses, portable power tools, guillotine cutters and. Use of such machinery can lead to hazards associated with “rotating parts” and “sparks.”
OSHA defines machine guards as “barriers which prevent access to danger areas.” This critical safety equipment—categorized as “fixed, interlocked, adjustable, and self-adjusting”—aims to shield employees from dangers posed by machinery. However, the absence or misuse of these tools can result in OSHA violations, as was likely the case with the incidents in this year’s report.
9) Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment—Eye and Face Protection
Still at number 9 on the OHSA top 10, Eye and Face Protection holds that position, with 1,814 violations cited in FY24. That’s a notable drop from the 2,074 violations reported last year. OSHA Standard 1926.102 mandates employers to provide suitable eye and face protection for workers exposed to hazards such as “flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors or potentially injurious light radiation” that can cause severe injuries or blindness. In some environments, employers must provide side protection.
OSHA requires eye and face protection to align with one of the three designated American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards. For employees wearing prescription lenses, employers must ensure that eye protection accommodates these prescriptions or fits comfortably over prescription glasses. Comfort, fit and ease of cleaning are continually shown to be key to compliance, and more and more employers are finally beginning to account for it.
