Many injured workers would never have needed to file a workers’ compensation if their employers had taken more care to comply with all safety requirements.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the government agency tasked with creating most of those safety regulations and checking for employer compliance. Part of its role is to compile statistics on its findings.
Non-compliance makes injury more likely
Here are the top five safety violations OSHA found in 2021:
- Fall protection: Anytime you are more than a few feet off the ground, your employer needs to find a way to keep you safe. The same applies when you are working near holes in the ground or near a drop-off to another level.
- Respiratory protection: Breathing clean air is essential. Sometimes this is not possible without special equipment to filter out the materials you work with.
- Ladders: They are cheap to buy and easy to deploy. They are also easy to fall from, and it’s potentially expensive if you do.
- Scaffolds: These can be a much safer option than ladders, yet they need to be set up with care.
- Hazard communication: Employers need to make sure all employees fully understand the hazards they face in their role and are trained in how to minimize the danger.
If you spot any of these issues at your workplace, do not be afraid to report them to your employer. If they refuse to listen, you can report it to OSHA. If you have already been injured at work, your best option is to find out more about how you can file for workers’ compensation.