Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards

OSHA released its Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards earlier this year and safety and risk management professionals saw several familiar citations on this list. What many safety professionals don’t realize is that these standards can be searched by the number of employees and NAICS code. One can also search and view the industry profile for violations of any specific OSHA standard. For example, Commercial General Contractors would see Fall Protection on their Top 10 but also would see the addition of standards related to Aerial Lifts and Excavation. Fall Protection comes up for Plumbing Contractors, but standards related to protective systems and confined spaces also crack the top 10. While it’s important to know what trends there are across all industries, it can be beneficial for safety professionals to drill down on their individual class of business. The following is a list of the top 10 most frequently cited standards following inspections of worksites by federal OSHA. OSHA publishes this list to alert employers about these commonly cited standards so they can take steps to find and fix recognized hazards addressed in these and other standards before OSHA shows up. Far too many preventable injuries and illnesses occur in the workplace.

1. Fall Protection, construction(29 CFR 1926.501) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
2. Hazard Communication Standard, general industry(29 CFR 1910.1200) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]]
3. Respiratory Protection, general industry(29 CFR 1910.134) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
4. Scaffolding, general requirements, construction(29 CFR 1926.451) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
5. Ladders, construction(29 CFR 1926.1053) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
6. Control of Hazardous Energy (lockout/tagout), general industry(29 CFR 1910.147) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
7. Powered Industrial Trucks, general industry(29 CFR 1910.178) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
8. Fall Protection–Training Requirements(29 CFR 1926.503) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
9. Eye and Face Protection(29 CFR 1926.102) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
10. Machinery and Machine Guarding, general requirements(29 CFR 1910.212) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]

This list was originally published by OSHA for Fiscal Year 2020 (Oct. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2020).