Willful violations, with fines of up to $70,000, occur when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) deems the accident to have been due to complete indifference to or disregard for OSHA safety standards. The agency just released its list of the Top 10 willful and repeat violations, which are:
- Excavation protective system, 84 violations
- Fall protection, 67 violations
- Process safety management, 45 violations
- Grain handling facilities, 42 violations
- Asbestos, 37 violations
- Lockout/tagout, 35 violations
- Machine guarding, 25 violations
- Specific excavation requirements, 24 violations
- General recording criteria, 23 violations, and
- General duty clause, 22 violations.
Repeat violations, also with fines of up to $70,000, occur when the same or similar incident happens at any work site of the same company or owner. Last year's Top 10 repeat violations were:
- Fall protection, 646 violations
- Scaffolding, 439 violations
- Excavations, protective systems, 119 violations
- Hazard communication, 112 violations
- Lockout/tagout, 109 violations
- Electrical, wiring methods, 92 violations
- Ladders, 89 violations
- Machine guarding, 88 violations
- Electrical, general requirements, 86 violations, and
- Aerial lifts, 81 violations.
Serious violations carry a maximum fine of $7,000. The Top 10 serious violations for 2011 were:
- Scaffolding, 6,324 violations
- Fall protection, 6,022 violations
- Hazard communication, 3,953 violations
- Lockout/tagout, 2,926 violations
- Electrical, wiring methods, 2,835 violations
- Ladders, 2,787 violations
- Powered industrial trucks, 2,582 violations
- Machine guarding, 2,433 violations
- Respiratory protection, 2,361 violations, and
- Electrical, general requirements, 2,198 violations.