A regulation requiring workplaces to protect employees from falls topped the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s list of most violated rules for the 14th straight year, prompting nearly $50 million in fines.
While that figure represents a 4.1 percent increase in financial penalties, according to preliminary data for the year through Sept. 30, the number of citations dipped slightly as OSHA prioritized inspections of workplaces where employees perform jobs high above the ground. The data won’t be finalized until after the first week in April.
“Falls are troublesome because they comprise such a large portion of the fatalities that OSHA investigates,” Scott Ketcham, director of enforcement programs, told Safety + Health magazine, a publication of the National Safety Council.
In 2023, the most recent year for which statistics were available, falls accounted for 885 deaths, about 17 percent of all workplace fatalities, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Many workers who experience a fall that doesn’t result in a fatality can suffer a serious, life-altering injury, while others can recover,” Ketcham added. “The more times or the longer a worker works at height without proper fall protection systems in place, the greater the likelihood they will experience a fall.”
To prevent dangerous falls, the agency teams with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the National Occupational Research Agenda and CPWR-The Center for Construction Research on hazard-awareness programs.
OSHA also organizes the annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction, encouraging businesses each May to talk directly with employees about safety concerns, particularly those related to falls.
While OSHA’s Top 10 most cited standards were the same as in previous years, some ranked differently, and overall citations and fines are both lower than in 2023, according to data compiled so far. The total number of citations fell 3.8 percent to 28,182 while fines dipped less than 1 percent to $131.4 million.
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“I’ve been working for OSHA for 30 years, and these cited standards continually repeat,” Ketcham added. “It’s important to put into perspective that these hazards are real, they do lead to fatalities and they are preventable. They’re most commonly cited because, sadly, we’re still finding them in the workplace.”
Here’s a closer look at the 10 most frequently violated OSHA standards in 2024. The rankings include updated figures on citations and penalties as of late December.
Read more: Workplace Falls: 3 Critical Points to Prevent OSHA’s Top Violation
No. 1: Fall Protection
Standard: 1926.501
2024 Citations: 6,763
Change from previous year: -4.5%
2024 Fines: $49.3 million
OSHA imposes a variety of rules to protect workers from on-the-job falls, from requiring precautions such as guardrails on walkways or open floors more than 6 feet above ground to ensuring floor strength and putting covers on holes. Construction companies received 6,615 citations for violating these rules last year, by far the most of any industry, followed by manufacturers, which received 32.
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