Common Types of OSHA Violations

 Posted on December 28, 2023 in Work Accidents

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) oversees enforcing essential worker protections across many industries. This happens through rigorous standards governing exposure dangers, injury reporting (like construction injuries), contamination protocols, and fatality investigation obligations. A Texas personal injury lawyer can help if you have experienced an OSHA-related injury at work.

Failure to Properly Guard Machinery

OSHA machinery equipment standards require installed physical guards or protective light beam electronics automatically halting conveyor belts, grinders, table saws, industrial food processors, welding robots, and other processing equipment containing hazardous moving parts risking accidental impacts causing limb amputations or fatal entanglements. Proof of lacking or disabled guarding mechanisms assuredly incurs violations and lawsuits after serious accidents.

Lack of Fall Prevention Safeguards

Wherever employees perform duties more than six feet above floor levels, like scaffolding, roofing projects, or repairing machinery, OSHA expects fall prevention controls like edge railings, safety netting below, and securely anchored harness systems tying off workers before projects start. Otherwise, companies face severe penalties plus employee injury litigation should plummeting occur, lacking precautions along hazardous open precipices and steep work sites.

Improper Electrical Systems Management

Explosion dangers and electrocution risks arise when power circuits overload through damaged cord exposures or too many devices daisy-chained, lacking protective circuit breaker shutdowns. OSHA electrical standards mandate proper system capacities, equipment grounding, insulation, and tools meeting arcs and spark risks. Burn injuries prompt investigations when companies shortcut precautions, ignoring wiring damages. This leads to sparking heavy fines.

Hazardous Materials Exposures

Worksites utilizing toxic chemicals from stored solvents to infectious waste lead to tighter OSHA rules containing contamination spread through upgraded ventilation controls, leak containment checks, complete worker personal protective outfitting like respirators, and splash goggles alongside regulated exposure time maximums. Even documentation violations trigger significant fines and lawsuits after negligence spreads sickness.

Document Incidents Thoroughly For Later Investigations

If accidents producing injuries slip through preventative cracks, have designated staff photograph accident scenes from multiple angles, take detailed worker testimony writings, mark locations on floor maps, record observed OSHA violations, and preserve any faulty equipment pieces for inspectors. Comprehensive incident documentation aids later legal cases in pursuing the complete employee remedies deserved.

Implement Post-Accident Audit Reviews

Instituting a post-incident assessment program examining what sequence of errors facilitated the accident. This can be from ignored procedure non-compliance to overlooked equipment damage, significantly mitigating the likelihood of recurrence once identified. Detailed accident reviews can allow you to assess prevention upgrades needed company-wide.

Contact a Dallas County, TX Personal Injury Lawyer

If you are involved in a work-related OSHA injury, an Irving, TX personal injury attorney can help you with the process. Call Jerry D. Andrews, P.C. at 214-221-5800 for a free consultation.