2025 OSHA TOP 10 MOST CITED
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced its Top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety standards for fiscal year 2025. Eric Harbin, regional administrator for OSHA’s Dallas Region, presented the preliminary list at the 2025 NSC Safety Congress & Expo, in Denver, CO.
The standards that make up the Top 10 remained unchanged from FY 2024, with some movement within their ranking. Lockout/Tagout (1910.147), which ranked fifth in FY 2024, moved to No. 4. Machine Guarding (1910.212) remains on the list at number 10, with 1,239 citations.
Overall, 8 of the 10 categories had fewer violations this year than in the previous year
The Top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety standards for FY 2025 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
History of Machine Guarding in the top 10 most cited violations:
| Year | Position | Violations |
| 2024 | 10 | 1,541 |
| 2023 | 10 | 1,644 |
| 2022 | 10 | 1,469 |
| 2021 | 10 | 1,113 |
| 2020 | 10 | 1,313 |
| 2019 | 9 | 1,743 |
| 2018 | 9 | 1,972 |
| 2017 | 8 | 1,933 |
| 2016 | 8 | 2,451 |
| 2015 | 9 | 2,540 |
| 2014 | 9 | 2,520 |
| 2013 | 10 | 2,852 |
| 2012 | 6 | 2,097 |
| 2011 | 10 | 2,728 |
| 2010 | 10 | 2,364 |
Learn more about the announcement here. A more in-depth analysis of the Top 10 violations for 2025 will be published in the December edition of Safety+Health magazine, a National Safety Council publication.
