Fall protection leads OSHA citations for 15th straight year.
DENVER – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced its most frequently cited workplace safety standards for fiscal year 2025, with Fall Protection – General Requirements topping the list for the 15th straight year.
The preliminary data, revealed during the 2025 NSC Safety Congress & Expo – the world’s largest annual gathering of safety professionals – highlights persistent compliance issues and the need for stronger safety efforts across industries.
The Top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety standards are:
1. Fall Protection – General Requirements (1926.501): 5,914 violations
2. Hazard Communication (1910.1200): 2,546
3. Ladders (1926.1053): 2,405
4. Lockout/Tagout (1910.147): 2,177
5. Respiratory Protection (1910.134): 1,953
6. Fall Protection – Training Requirements (1926.503): 1,907
7. Scaffolding (1926.451): 1,905
8. Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178): 1,826
9. Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment – Eye and Face Protection (1926.102): 1,665
10. Machine Guarding (1910.212): 1,239
“While progress has been made in many workplaces, the consistency in citation rankings year after year signals there is more work ahead,” said Lorraine Martin, NSC CEO. “The safety community must intensify our efforts to better protect workers and save lives. We can do this through robust training, updated metrics, high-hazard identification and control implementation, coupled with employee engagement and leadership accountability.”
A more in-depth analysis of the Top 10 violations for fiscal year 2025 will be published in the December edition of Safety+Health magazine, a National Safety Council publication.
About the National Safety Council
The National Safety Council is America’s leading nonprofit safety advocate – and has been for over 110 years. As a mission-based organization, we work to eliminate the leading causes of preventable death and injury, focusing our efforts on the workplace and roadways. We create a culture of safety to not only keep people safer at work, but also beyond the workplace so they can live their fullest lives.
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