You’re worried about getting hurt at work because your boss and the other employees often violate what you think are clear safety standards. You feel like it’s just an accident waiting to happen.
You may be right. To help you identify the risks, here are the top 10 violations listed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for one calendar year.
- Scaffolding issues, such as the improper use of a scaffolding or not using a safe and well-maintained scaffold system.
- Not using proper fall protection or using it incorrectly.
- Errors during excavations.
- Ladder violations, such as improper use on an unsafe surface.
- Not wearing necessary head protection to protect from falling objects.
- Excavations. This checks in twice on the list, showing a high level of risk. The second time, it was for violating requirements for protective systems.
- Not communicating properly about hazards and giving workers the information they needed to be safe.
- Not training workers on how to properly use fall protection gear.
- General health and safety violations on a construction site.
- Issues with electrical systems. These included violations for protection gear, system designs and wiring methods.
You work in this environment every day, and you may have seen numerous hazards on the job. As you can see from the OSHA report, your worry is certainly warranted and these types of mistakes and violations are common.
If you are injured on the job, especially due to negligence by the company or the other employees, you must know your legal rights. You may be facing high medical bills, lost wages and many other costs.
Source: OSHA, “Construction," accessed Dec. 28, 2017
