It’s that time of year again when OSHA shares their workplace violations and citations statistics.
In 2025 fall protection has once again topped the list of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s most frequently cited workplace safety standards for the 15th year in a row.
The preliminary data, which was revealed during the 2025 NSC Safety Congress & Expo – highlights persistent compliance issues and the need for stronger safety mitigations across multiple industries
2025 OSHA Most Frequently Cited Violations
The Top ten most frequently cited workplace safety standards are:
- Fall Protection – General Requirements (1926.501): 5,914 violations
- Hazard Communication (1910.1200): 2,546
- Ladders (1926.1053): 2,405
- Lockout/Tagout (1910.147): 2,177
- Respiratory Protection (1910.134): 1,953
- Fall Protection – Training Requirements (1926.503): 1,907
- Scaffolding (1926.451): 1,905
- Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178): 1,826
- Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment – Eye and Face Protection (1926.102): 1,665
- Machine Guarding (1910.212): 1,239
Comparison to OSHA Violations in 2024
In comparison to 2024, Fall Protection – General Requirements violations are down by 6.2% from 6,307 whilst Fall Protection – Training Requirements are down by 6.9% from 2,050.
Lorraine Martin, NSC CEO put some verbiage around the results, saying:
“While progress has been made in many workplaces, the consistency in citation rankings year after year signals there is more work ahead, 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.”
Using the most current data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2023, roofing was the third deadliest civilian occupation due to the amount of fatal workplace incidents. The roofing industry logged 134 workplace fatalities in 2023, which works out to a rate of 51.8 fatal injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in the roofing industry – an alarming number.
Of the 134 fatalities in roofing that took place in 2023, 110 were caused by a fall, slip or trip, which means 82% of fatalities in roofing happened because of a fall.
OSHA does place a big focus on this in their mandated training programs, with falls, slips and trips being part of the Focus Four Hazards covered in both OSHA 10 Construction and OSHA 30 Construction training.
