Every year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ranks the 10 most frequently cited standards following worksite inspections. Workers experience avoidable injuries, illnesses and fatalities associated with the hazards the standards cover.
OSHA publishes its ranking so employers can become aware of standards that are repeatedly flagged. The list aims to inform employers about identifying and correcting these hazards before they become a problem. See how your safety programs stand against these citations.
Top 10 OSHA Citations
OSHA shared its preliminary data at the 2025 NSC Safety Congress & Expo. The 2025 citation categories were the same as last year, with only a reordering of the citations’ position on the list. Repeating citation categories reveal a pattern of safety issues that need remediation across industries.
Fall protection maintained the top spot for the 15th straight year. It received over twice the number of citations as the runner-up, hazard communication. Ladders remained fixed at third place. Respiratory protection dropped from fourth to fifth place, replaced by lockout/tagout. Scaffolding moved to seventh place, up from eighth. Machine guarding and personal protective equipment maintained their positions.
The following are the top 10 OSHA standards cited from October 2024 to September 2025:
| Rank | Safety and health topic | OSHA standard | What it covers |
| 1 | Fall protection | 1926.501 | Fall protection. Requires employers to provide fall protection systems to employees working at heights. |
| 2 | Hazard communication | 1910.1200 | Hazard communication. Requires employers to disclose and classify the hazards of all chemicals produced or imported. Additionally, it requires employers to communicate information about chemical hazards to their employees, ensuring they understand the associated risks. Employers must maintain a writtenhazard communication program and a chemical inventory that is easily accessible to all employees. |
| 3 | Ladders | 1926.1053 | Ladders. Regulates the types of ladders employers must provide to employees for the jobs they’re doing, including safety requirements for maximum weight and load, anti-slip devices and ladder placement. |
| 4 | Lockout/Tagout | 1910.147 | The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout). Sets minimum requirements for controlling hazardous energy when machines and equipment are being serviced or maintained. The lockout/tagout process prevents unexpected startups and releases of stored energy that could injure employees. |
| 5 | Respiratory protection | 1910.134 | Respiratory protection. Requires employers to control employees’ exposure to air contaminated with harmful dusts, fogs, fumes, mists, gases, smokes, sprays or vapors. |
| 6 | Fall protection | 1926.503 | Training requirements. Requires employers to provide fall protection training to employees exposed to fall hazards. Minimally, employees should be able to recognize fall hazards in the workplace and follow procedures for minimizing those hazards. |
| 7 | Scaffolding | 1926.451 | General requirements. Regulates the types, materials, construction, and uses of scaffolds, as well as fall protection and guards that employers must provide for employees working on or around scaffolds. |
| 8 | Powered industrial trucks | 1910.178 | Powered industrial trucks. Requires safety measures relating to the design, maintenance and use of powered industrial trucks. These include forklift trucks, tractors, platform lift trucks, motorized hand trucks, and other industrial trucks powered by electric motors or internal combustion engines. |
| 9 | Personal protective equipment | 1926.102 | Eye and face protection. Requires employers to provide affected employees with proper eye and face protection. Personal protective equipment must protect against hazards like flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, and light radiation. |
| 10 | Machine guarding | 1910.212 | General requirements for all machines. Requires employers to protect machine operators and other employees nearby from rotating parts, flying chips, sparks and other machine-related hazards. |
Free on-site safety consultation
If you’re a smaller business seeking feedback on your safety programs, try OSHA’s free safety consultation program. It’s open to small businesses with 250 or fewer employees at a single location and fewer than 500 employees in the entire company.
An on-site consultation can help you identify and address hazards. It can also help establish or improve your existing safety and health programs. Consultants from state agencies or universities provide the services. Consultations are confidential and are separate from OSHA enforcement.
Keeping up with OSHA standards can help you maintain a safe workplace and avoid regulatory mishaps. Employees are counting on you to help them navigate the workday safely!
Contact Bender Insurance Solutions today.
