Rancho Mesa's Alyssa Burley and Media Communications & Client Services Coordinator Lauren Stumpf discuss the top Cal/OSHA citations.

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Director/Producer/Host: Alyssa Burley

Guest: Lauren Stumpf

Editor: Emily Marasso

Music: "Home" by JHS Pedals, “News Room News” by Spence

Transcript

Alyssa Burley: Hi, this is Alyssa Burley with Ranch Mesa's Media Communications and Client Services Department. Thank you for listening to today's top Rancho Mesa news brought to you by our Safety and Risk Management Network, StudioOne™.

Welcome back, everyone. Today, my guest is Lauren Stumpf, Media Communications and Client Services Coordinator with Rancho Mesa. Today, we're going to talk about OSHA's top cited standards. Lauren, welcome to the show.

Lauren Stumpf: Thanks for having me. It's great to be back.

AB: So every year the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, known as OSHA, publishes a list of the top cited violations in order to alert employers about potential hazards and take steps to find and fix them before there's an accident or OSHA shows up. So, the most current top citations list includes data from October 2019 through September 2020, and it takes OSHA a while to compile the data. So, we should expect the 2021 data sometime in 2022.

Lauren, will you explain what the number five OSHA citation is to our listeners?

LS: Of course, the number five OSHA citation has to do with ladder safety. This corresponds to standard number 1926.1053. Through the Risk Management Center, employees can complete the ladder safety course, which is also part of the RMI365 Advantage Safety Star program. Along with the online course, there are safety videos and training shorts that employees can use for their weekly safety trainings in an effort to prevent ladder accidents.

AB: Having so many formats with this information makes it easy to get employees trained, and it makes sense that ladder safety is one of the topics in the Safety Start program, since it's something that so many industries utilize. So, what's number four?

LS: So, number four is scaffolding citations, standard 1926.451. Again, training materials are available in the risk management center. Whether the employer prefers to show safety videos, use PowerPoint presentations, print posters, or use training shorts, there's plenty of materials to ensure employees are properly trained.

AB: Great. So, what's the number three citation?

LS: Number three is respiratory protection, or standard 1910.134. So, the citation could be anything from issues with air purifying respirators to fit tests or a faulty end of service life indicator. We can provide online courses that address respiratory protection and safety videos, sample policies and training shorts to ensure employees are trained before there is an issue.

AB: With so many businesses taking note of respiratory protection due to COVID, I think it's a good time to remind everyone that it's not just COVID that we need to protect employees from, but also all of the other hazards like silica and chemicals.

What's the second most cited violation?

LS: The second most cited violation is hazard communication or standard 1910.1200. This violation addresses how information about hazardous materials is communicated in the workplace. If employers are having a hard time ensuring employees are aware of the hazards in the workplace, again, there are numerous training materials in different formats that can be used to ensure employees are properly trained.

AB: And it doesn’t matter if you’re in construction, healthcare, or even in janitorial and maintenance industry, there are training materials specific for your employees. Plus, the Risk Management Center has a sample hazard communication program template to help you get started. So, if you’re not a Rancho Mesa client, ask your insurance advisor for a sample that you can use.

Okay, Lauren. After talking with Rory Anderson about OSHA violations for the tree care industry, I think it was episode 125, I have a pretty good idea of what the number one OSHA citation across all industries is going to be. So let’s see if I’m right. I think that it’s going to be fall protection.

LS: [Laughs] Yes, that’s correct. So, the number one OSHA citation is fall protection or standard 1926.501. Like ladder safety, fall protection is also a topic in the Safety Star program. Not only is there an online course for fall protection, there are also videos, sample policies, training shorts, and even a tutorial on how to implement a fall protection and prevention plan.

AB: It seems like year after year, fall protection citations unfortunately continue to rank high on the list of OSHA standard violations. So, it makes sense for employers to take this information, create an effective fall protection plan, and training employees before there is an incident.

Lauren, thank you so much for joining me in StudioOne™.

LS: Thanks for having me, Alyssa.

AB: This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa. Thanks for tuning in to our latest episode produced by StudioOne™. For more information, visit us at ranchomesa.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.