The Occupational Safety and Health Administration revealed the 10 most-violated OSHA standards thus far in 2005. The list includes data about citations issued from October 1, 2004 through August 30, 2005. Overall, the number of violations among the 10 most-cited standards is down 4,200 from last year, according to the agency.
The most-cited standard continues to be scaffolding—general requirements with 8,130 violations, according to OSHA. The second most-cited standard remains hazard communication with 6,641 violations. One standard is new on OSHA’s list: ladders. Otherwise, there was little change in the list from 2004.
The violations of these standards are issues for both the client’s employees and the staffing employees who work at the client’s site. What’s different, however, is the reporting of an accident that occurs to a staffing employee due to these violations. Now and then, we consult with a customer confused about who needs to report a staffing employee injury to OSHA.
The situation usually goes something like this: a client’s site has hired numerous staffing workers at its plant. One staffing employee gets injured. The staffing employee receives an injury that is recordable on the OSHA 300 Log. The staffing employees are under the direct supervision of the site.
A couple of questions usually arise: is it correct that the injury be recordable on the client’s site log, or should it be recordable on the staffing agency log? What are the criteria related to staffing employees that need to be reviewed to determine which OSHA log is appropriate for recording the injury/illness?
The answers: section 1904.31 says the employer must record the injuries and illnesses that occur to employees not on its payroll if it supervises them on a day-to-day basis. Day-to-day supervision generally exists when the employer “supervises not only the output, product, or result to be accomplished by the person’s work, but also the details, means, methods, and processes by which the work objective is accomplished.”
This is yet another reason for both the client and the staffing agency to work together on safety issues. Both are affected by a staffing employee injury. Both should be doing all they can to prevent the injury. It’s a benefit to all involved. For reference, the list of the 10 most violated OSHA standards follows:
• Scaffolding.
• Hazard communication.
• Fall protection—general requirements.
• Respiratory protection.
• Lockout/tagout.
• Powered industrial trucks.
• Electrical—wiring methods, components, and equipment for general use.
• Machine guarding—general requirements.
• Electrical—general requirements.
• Ladders. IBI