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Frequently Cited OSHA Violations
An OSHA safety inspection is an ever-present possibility for paper recycling operations—with the related possibility of financial penalties for any violations of OSHA standards.
How real are those risks? In the one-year period from October 2022 through September 2023, OSHA issued 259 citations for violations of various safety standards in recycling operations of all sizes and types (not exclusively paper recycling operations). The penalties for those 259 violations totaled $1,315,884.
In this regard, recycling operations are defined as Recyclable Material Merchant Wholesalers that fall under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 423930. The list below notes some of the OSHA citations that recycling operations received in the time period noted above, with the number of citations for the given standard and the total penalties noted in parentheses:
■ Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout) (23 citations/$134,488)
■ Duty to have fall protection and falling object protection (14 citations/$131,457)
■ Powered industrial trucks (38 citations/$107,158)
■ Respiratory protection (14 citations/$57,115)
■ Hazard communication (19 citations/$30,530)
■ Training requirements (1 citation/$15,625)
■ Air contaminants (3 citations/$14,733)
■ Maintenance, safeguards, and operational features for exit routes (3 citations/$10,313)
■ Occupational noise exposure (2 citations/$8,491)
■ Permit-required confined spaces (2 citations/$3,750)
■ Portable fire extinguishers (2 citations/$2,344)
Click HERE for a full list of the frequently cited OSHA standards for recycling operations in the October 2022 through September 2023 period.
Graphic by Mahmudul Hassan from Vecteezy.
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