April 9, 2010—Hazardous federal worksites are the focus of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Federal Agency Targeting Inspection Program 2010 (FEDTARG10). The nationwide program emphasizes workplace safety and health for federal workers and contractors supervised by federal personnel.
FEDTARG10 focuses on the most dangerous federal agency workplaces that experienced high numbers of lost time injuries during fiscal 2009. Field inspectors conducted 59 inspections of high hazard federal worksites and found 336 violations of OSHA safety and health standards. The top three standards cited were electrical, respiratory protection and hazard communications. The 336 violations cited were more than twice the number cited in 2008, indicating the necessity for the FEDTARG program.
This program began in 2008 in response to a Government Accountability Office audit report that recommended the agency develop a targeted inspection program for federal worksites. OSHA’s Office of Federal Agency Programs (FAP) represents the federal sector and provides federal agencies with guidance for implementing effective occupational safety and health programs.