The big top 10 OSHA violations for 2018. Or being informed is being armed.
The top 10 OSHA violations have been fall protection, scaffolding, respiratory protection, LOTO, ladders, forklifts, fall protection, machine guarding, eye/face protection, hazardous communication.
So, knowing what OSHA commonly finds during investigations or site audits can be helpful to the employer and employee. If, for example, fall protections one of the top cited safety violations then you can simply examine your workplace for fall hazards and then figure out ways to protect employees from falls. Pretty simple.
A note about hazardous communication. This rule, 29 CFR 1910.1200, requires any employer which has certain chemicals (listed in this OSHA section of Appendixes A and B) to have a haz comm program. IF OSHA has contact with an employer, regardless of the reason, one of the first things they ask for has the employers haz com program. If no haz com program, a citation will issue.
Haz com programs must be in writing and training of effected employees is required. There are some other requirements but I mention this OSHA rule here because a company not having a written or trained haz com program gets in big trouble with OSHA. Why go through the hassle, develop and implement a haz com program.