A second life for artificial turf; a top 10 for safety risks; getting some auto inflation relief

When PN’s Steve Toloken wrote about safety issues in the plastics industry last month, he noted that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration lists violations of lockout/tag-out rules as the issue generating the most fines from OSHA for plastics companies.

Now OSHA is out with its preliminary top 10 most frequently cited workplace standards for all businesses, and—unsurprisingly—lockout/tag-out is on that list.

In a news release from the National Safety Council, OSHA says the biggest issue is related to failing to follow requirements for fall protection, which yielded 5,260 violations.

That is followed by:

• Failures in hazardous communications, 2,424 violations.

• Inadequate respiratory protection, 2,185 violations.

• Improper use of ladders, 2,143 violations.

• Unsafe scaffolding, 2,058 violations.

• Lockout/tag-out comes in at No. 6 with 1,977 violations.

• Issues with powered industrial trucks, 1,749 violations.

• Failure to meet training requirements related to fall protection, 1,556 violations.

• Improper or missing eye and face protection for personal protective equipment and life-saving equipment, 1,401 violations.

• Lack of proper machine guarding, 1,370 violations.

“Despite advancements in workplace safety, we continue to see the same types of violations each year,” NSC President and CEO Lorraine Martin said in the news release.