OSHA’s Top 10

Q & A with OSHA's Patrick Kapust

Preliminary data for OSHA’s Top 10 most cited standards for fiscal year 2022 was announced Sept. 20 during the 2022 NSC Safety Congress & Expo in San Diego.

Later that day, Patrick Kapust, deputy director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, sat down with Safety+Health Associate Editor Kevin Druley to discuss the list, along with actions safety pros can take to help mitigate workplace hazards.

The conversation below has been edited.

Safety+Health: Fall Protection – General Requirements is No. 1 for the 12th year in a row. Why does this continue to be such a problem? How is OSHA working to abate it?

Kapust: Fall hazard violations have remained on the top of the list because the hazard is present in most workplaces. Ladders, staircases, powered platforms, unprotected floor holes and any elevated work surfaces. OSHA continues to pursue several approaches to educate both workers and employers through outreach with our alliance partners, and has developed a webpage with useful, up-to-date information on fall protection. OSHA also discusses its efforts in this area through the Fall Prevention Campaign.

The agency believes ensuring safety and health as a core value in work is essential for stakeholders to help prevent these types of injuries and fatalities. Safety and health management systems are an excellent start in demonstrating that core value. As the agency addresses fall protection issues in construction, this continues to be our message. OSHA is helping companies by providing compliance assistance materials and training that emphasizes prevention of falls in construction with the regulated community through outreach. As an example, OSHA, along with our partners, CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training and NIOSH, work together through the National Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction. Its banner annual event, the Fall Stand-Down, reaches over a quarter of a million employees annually on how to prevent falls in construction.

We also continue to enforce the regulatory provisions of the standards to prevent falls. In the first three quarters of FY 2022, OSHA conducted over 9,700 inspections in the construction industry, of which 47% identified fall hazards with over $34 million in penalties issued for serious and willful violations in fall protection.

S+H: Which trends or data in this year’s Top 10 list stand out to you?

Kapust: What stands out to me right away is that four out of the top six cited standards are specific to employees working at elevated heights in the construction industry. OSHA emphasizes three simple steps to prevent falls: plan, provide and train, as outlined on the Fall Prevention Campaign website.

S+H: A training component is part of many OSHA standards. Can you explain what compliance officers look for when examining training procedures and protocols?

Kapust: Before engaging in any potentially hazardous activities, workers must receive appropriate safety and health training from their employers, as required under numerous OSHA training standards. As part of the inspection process, OSHA compliance officers will determine whether training is required, whether the necessary training was provided and whether the training was effective. To do that, compliance officers review the employer training records and conduct employee and employer interviews to evaluate how well employees understand and can apply the training.

S+H: OSHA has a number of new standards in the works. What kind of impact do new standards carry once they’re promulgated and go into effect?

Kapust: Although the impact of any new standard is highly dependent on the nature of the hazards and industries affected, all rulemakings accomplish certain important objectives. OSHA standards create a level playing field – so that all employers know what is expected of them to protect their workers – and help prevent employers from cutting corners on workplace safety. OSHA standards also let workers know that they have certain basic rights to workplace safety that will help them return home to their loved ones, safe and sound, every day. OSHA’s whistleblower protections also let workers know that they have the right to speak up about hazards without fear of retaliation.

S+H: What are some common misconceptions you hear about enforcement or other matters?

Kapust: One common misconception is that OSHA just wants to issue citations and penalties. As stated in OSHA’s mission, the agency was created to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for workers by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance. As you can see, there are a number of tools in OSHA’s tool bag. Enforcement is just one. When OSHA does issue a citation, employers have the right to have an informal conference with the OSHA area director to discuss citations, penalties, abatement dates or any other information pertinent to the inspection. This is an excellent opportunity for the employer to work with OSHA to resolve the citations and eliminate hazards. The goal is to go beyond this inspection and begin working toward long-term safety and health improvements at that particular workplace.

S+H: How has the COVID-19 pandemic influenced enforcement activities?

Kapust: Although OSHA didn’t waive compliance with any of its requirements during the pandemic, because of certain business shutdowns and supply chain shortages, the agency set forth temporary enforcement discretion policies for compliance officers to consider when enforcing OSHA standards, such as annual fit testing of N95 respirators under the Respiratory Protection standard (1910.134) or equivalent provisions of other health standards.

OSHA also provided interim guidance advising compliance officers to evaluate an employer’s good faith efforts during the pandemic to comply with other standards related to training, auditing, equipment inspections and testing. These enforcement discretions were time-limited to the first year of the pandemic and administered on a case-by-case basis.

In addition, some of OSHA’s reporting requirements were not enforced during the beginning of the pandemic because in some situations it was very difficult for employers to determine if COVID-19 fatalities and hospitalizations were work-related where there was ongoing community transmission.

Despite these early enforcement discretions, OSHA’s most frequently cited standard during this pandemic was the Respiratory Protection standard, such as lack of fit testing, medical evaluations, written programs and training. Because of this, one can see from OSHA’s annual Top 10 rankings of violations, that the Respiratory Protection standard rose from No. 5 in FY 2019 to No. 2 in FY 2021. But now as the pandemic has been easing with increasing vaccinations, from our preliminary rankings for FY 2021, this standard has dropped down from the second most cited standard to the fourth most cited standard.

S+H: What updates can you provide on national enforcement initiatives or National Emphasis Programs that are in the works?

Kapust: OSHA’s National Emphasis Programs focus on high-hazard processes and industries, typically involving serious injury or death to employees. For example, OSHA’s NEP on amputations focuses on manufacturing industries, where there is a higher potential for amputations. Employers who implement proper lockout/tagout procedures and provide proper machine guarding on dangerous machinery can eliminate the amputations hazards and may take out the lockout/tagout violations and machine guarding violations from the Top 10 list. The agency is focusing on new NEPs, but they’re in the early stages at this time.

S+H: Where can employers turn for assistance?

Kapust: OSHA’s Safety and Health Topics webpages provide information on regulations and enforcement, hazard identification and controls, and best practices, as well as other resources to help employers, workers, and safety and health professionals ensure safer workplaces.

Additionally, our dedicated OSHA enforcement page provides employers a wide variety of enforcement-related information for all industries. And for small businesses, employers can use OSHA’s consultation services for assistance with abating workplace hazards.

S+H: What advice would you give to employers to help them avoid being a statistic in next year’s Top 10 list?

Kapust: Employers: Train your employees. Train them to recognize hazards, and engage them in looking for hazards – such as through workplace inspections – and fixing the hazards. I’d also strongly urge employers to be proactive, to call their local OSHA area office directly if they have questions or submit a question by email. They can also view OSHA’s letters of interpretation, which are formal explanations of OSHA’s requirements and how they apply to particular circumstances.

S+H: You’ve been thorough, as always, and most gracious with your time. What hasn’t been asked that you think S+H readers should know?

Kapust: During this past year, we’ve seen America continuing to return to work, some dealing with new challenges as their businesses evolve in the post-pandemic environment. As an agency, OSHA had to be flexible during the pandemic as well, but our mission continues to remain steadfast: working to ensure safe and healthful workplaces.

 

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