The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released the list of frequently cited standard violations in the construction industry for 2019. Among the top ten, taking first place again this year is fall protection followed by scaffolds and ladders.

The total number of citations in the construction industry for the year was almost 28,000 with the total cost of penalties reaching more than $89 million. In the residential construction industry, the total citations are approximately 2,000 with a total cost of about $5.5 million.

The penalties here reflect current rather than initial amounts.

The top ten most frequently cited standard violations for construction during the period of October 2018 through September 2019, are as follows:

The rankings and number of citations represent the current rates displayed on OSHA’s website as of December 4.

Since fall protection is the most cited violation of workplace safety, OSHA standards require that fall protection be provided at elevations of six feet for the construction industry and when working over dangerous equipment and machinery, regardless of the fall distance.

Fall protection consists of the following standards according to OSHA:

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