With the end of the year rapidly approaching, it's time for the annual "end of year" lists to be made. While these lists often focus on the year's "bests" some lists take a different approach. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently announced its list of the top 10 violations the fiscal year 2012.

Regular readers of this blog are likely aware of the role OSHA plays in the United States, including the Pittsburgh area. The federal agency not only educates employers on health and safety matters, it also conducts workplace inspections and holds employers accountable financially when a violation is found or a work accident occurs.

This year's list probably does not look all that different from 2011 since the same issues seem to appear year in and year out. Perhaps not surprisingly, at the top with a total of 7,250 violations nationwide, is fall protection. Hazard communication is listed second and scaffolding violations, third. Also included in the top 10 are issues relating to respiratory protection, ladders, machine guarding and electrical matters.

Whatever the cause of a workplace accident, injured workers may be entitled to workers' compensation benefits. A requirement for most businesses throughout the state of Pennsylvania, benefits obtained via a successful claim are meant to cover expenses that may accrue while a worker recovers from his or her injury. The benefits must be applied for similar to how one files an insurance claim.

The process of obtaining these benefits can at times be complicated. Accordingly, many find it helpful to obtain the assistance of a workers' compensation lawyer.

Source: Risk & Insurance, "OSHA releases Top 10 list of violations for FY2012," Nov. 29, 2012