OSHA Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards for Fiscal Year 2023

Below is the full ranked list of OSHA’s Top 10 Safety Violations during FY 2023 ending September 30:

Fall Protection—General Requirements (1926.501): 7,271 violations
Hazard Communication (1910.1200): 3,213 violations
Ladders (1926.1053): 2,978 violations
Scaffolding (1926.451): 2,859 violations
Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178): 2,561 violations
Lockout/Tagout (1910.147): 2,554 violations
Respiratory Protection (1910.134): 2,481 violations
Fall Protection—Training Requirements (1926.503): 2,112 violations
Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment—Eye and Face Protection (1926.102): 2,074 violations
Machine Guarding (1910.212): 1,644 violations

OSHA Top 10 Citations: Recent Trends & Statistics

The OSHA Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards for 2023 closely resembles last year’s list, featuring the same familiar Standard violations that we continue to see on the list year after year. However, there are a couple interesting shifts in the rankings compared to 2022, as well as an overall increase in citations and enforcement activities. Here are a few takeaways:

For at least the past decade, Fall Protection continues to hold the #1 spot on OSHA’s Top 10 for 2023.
OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom) continues to rank #2 on the list for the second consecutive year (2022-2023), after falling to #4 in 2021.
OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Standard fell to #7 in 2023, after ranking #3 in 2020 and 2022, and #2 in 2021, presumably due to increased Respiratory Protection Standard enforcement emphasis during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Citations for OSHA’s Ladders Standard rose from #4 in 2022 to reach #3 in 2023. That rank as steadily risen in the past six years, from 7^th and 8^th between 2013 through 2016 to consistently ranking 3^rd and 4^th since 2021.
Overall numbers of inspections and citations continue to return to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels and show signs of continued upward trends, perhaps reflecting the increased funding and enforcement efforts at DOL/OSHA under the leadership of the current administration. (See Table 1)