Ken Arp, senior industrial hygienist with Iowa OSHA, has worked in both the enforcement and consultation/education divisions in his 13-year career with the agency. So he’s familiar with common problems that OSHA inspectors frequently cite:

guarding

“If you can reach over, under, or through it and get to something that could hurt you, it’s not good enough,” Ken says, adding that equipment manufacturers are not required to make their products OSHA compliant, “so buyer beware." For example, most drill presses do not come with a chuck guard installed, but OSHA requires, at a minimum, a shield or a guard that protects the operator from the revolving chuck and drill bit (a shield is less protective than a guard, but if used appropriately, is acceptable).

unmarked controls on equipment

All controls should be easily identified as to their function. Forklift controls, circuit breakers, and hoist pendants, for example, are often missing labels that indicate their function.

aluminum ladders

It’s not an OSHA violation to use aluminum ladders, but their placement or use around electrical wires is often a cause of electrical shock. As Ken says, “Electrocutions and aluminum ladders just go together,” and he recommends phasing them out in favor of nonconductive fiberglass ladders.

unlabeled containers

All containers of hazardous chemicals need to be labeled with two pieces of information (at a minimum):

-the name of the contents, which will allow the employee to use material safety data sheets and find the annotated hazard information

-the hazard of the chemical (corrosive, flammable, etc.)

Also, Ken recommends not using plastic gas cans for storage, since they’re easily damaged and often not stored appropriately (for example, storing gas in them requires the area have a fire detection system).

extension cords

Inspectors often discover these 3 problems with extension cords:

-missing ground pin
-damaged strain relief (where cord and plug meet)
-cord cut all the way through to inner wires – Ken says, “You don’t have to discard it—make 2 shorter extension cords.”

Handle these potential problems before an inspection, and you’ll save your business from these OSHA “easy hits.”