OSHA Enforcement Records, 2024: Inspections, Violations, and Penalties
These figures come from the full U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement dataset, which covers both federal OSHA and state-plan programs, organized by the calendar year an inspection was opened. They are broader than the federal-only, fiscal-year totals OSHA publishes, so the counts here are larger than OSHA's federal headline. For comparison, OSHA reported 34,696 federal inspections for fiscal year 2024. Data queried June 5, 2026.
Key Findings
- OSHA enforcement records document 75,927 inspections opened in 2024, almost unchanged from 76,283 in 2023, a decrease of 0.5 percent.
- Those inspections are associated with 133,724 recorded violations, down 4.7 percent from 140,342 in 2023.
- Serious violations accounted for 79,199 of the 2024 total, or 59 percent of all classified violations.
- Initial penalties assessed in 2024 totaled $459.7 million; the current penalty on record, after settlements and contests, was $342.4 million, a reduction of 25.5 percent.
- The most frequently cited standard was 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(13), a fall protection requirement, cited 5,782 times.
Inspections opened in 2024
OSHA enforcement records document 75,927 inspections opened in calendar year 2024 across federal and state-plan programs. That is 356 fewer than the 76,283 opened in 2023, a decrease of 0.5 percent. Of the 2024 inspections, 42,267 were associated with at least one recorded violation, compared with 44,081 in 2023.
Violations by type
OSHA classifies citations by type. A serious violation is one where a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm exists and the employer knew or should have known of the hazard. A willful violation is committed with intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the law. A repeat violation is a citation for a substantially similar condition cited previously. Other-than-serious violations have a direct relationship to safety or health but would probably not cause death or serious physical harm. Definitions follow OSHA at osha.gov/penalties.
| Violation type | 2023 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serious | 85,041 | 79,199 | -6.9% |
| Other-than-serious | 49,722 | 49,057 | -1.3% |
| Repeat | 4,784 | 4,775 | -0.2% |
| Willful | 756 | 633 | -16.3% |
| Unclassified | 39 | 60 | +21 |
| Total | 140,342 | 133,724 | -4.7% |
Penalties: initial versus current
Initial penalties assessed against 2024 inspections totaled $459,748,510. After informal settlements and contests recorded to date, the current penalty on record stood at $342,404,649, a reduction of $117.3 million, or 25.5 percent. In 2023, initial penalties of $474,234,045 were reduced to a current $341,990,327, a 27.9 percent reduction. On a current-penalty basis, the average per violation was $2,561 in 2024 and $2,437 in 2023. See OSHA penalty reductions for the full initial-to-current analysis.
| Penalty measure | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Initial penalties | $474,234,045 | $459,748,510 |
| Current penalties | $341,990,327 | $342,404,649 |
| Reduction, initial to current | 27.9% | 25.5% |
Most cited standards in 2024
The standards cited most often, by citation issuance year, were concentrated in fall protection, hazard communication, ladders, and machine guarding.
| Rank | Standard (29 CFR) | Subject | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1926.501(b)(13) | Fall protection, residential construction | 5,782 |
| 2 | 1910.1200(e)(1) | Hazard communication, written program | 2,567 |
| 3 | 1926.102(a)(1) | Eye and face protection | 2,433 |
| 4 | 1926.1053(b)(1) | Ladders | 2,433 |
| 5 | 1910.1200(h)(1) | Hazard communication, training | 2,021 |
| 6 | 1926.503(a)(1) | Fall protection, training | 1,963 |
| 7 | 1910.212(a)(1) | Machine guarding, general | 1,673 |
| 8 | 1926.100(a) | Head protection | 1,280 |
| 9 | 1926.503(b)(1) | Fall protection, training certification | 1,243 |
| 10 | 1926.501(b)(1) | Fall protection, unprotected sides and edges | 1,100 |
For reference, OSHA's official Top 10 Most Cited Standards for fiscal year 2024, published at osha.gov/top10citedstandards, lists the same areas led by Fall Protection, Hazard Communication, and Ladders.
Notes on data completeness
Figures for 2024 reflect enforcement records available as of June 5, 2026. Enforcement data updates over time as inspections close, citations are contested, and penalties are settled, so a recently completed year can undercount final totals relative to older years. 2025 records remain less complete: the dataset shows 69,985 inspections and 124,742 violations opened in 2025 as of the query date, figures expected to rise as records mature. They are not used for the year-over-year comparison above.
Methodology and sources
Data is drawn from the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement dataset, covering federal OSHA and state-plan programs. Inspections are counted by open date; violation counts and penalties are linked to those inspections by OSHA activity number, an exact key. Violation type counts use OSHA's own classification codes. Standard rankings are counted by citation issuance date. Penalty values are reported as both initial assessed and current recorded amounts. No records are estimated or interpolated. Sources: U.S. DOL enforcement data (developer.dol.gov), OSHA Commonly Used Statistics (osha.gov/data/commonstats), OSHA Top 10 Most Cited Standards (osha.gov/top10citedstandards), OSHA penalty definitions (osha.gov/penalties).
OSHA enforcement records document 75,927 inspections opened in calendar year 2024 across federal and state-plan programs, almost unchanged from 76,283 in 2023.
The most frequently cited standard was 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(13), a fall protection requirement for residential construction, cited 5,782 times.
Initial penalties assessed against 2024 inspections totaled $459.7 million, reduced to a current $342.4 million after settlements and contests, a reduction of 25.5 percent.
OSHA defines a serious violation as one where a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew or should have known of the hazard.
This dataset includes both federal OSHA and state-plan enforcement and is organized by calendar year, while OSHA's official annual summary reports federal activity by fiscal year. OSHA reported 34,696 federal inspections for fiscal year 2024.
Data Source and Methodology
Data synced dailyData on this page comes from the U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA enforcement database, accessed via the DOL public data API. Records are updated daily. We strive for accuracy, but errors in data processing or establishment grouping are possible. Penalty amounts reflect the latest penalty amounts on record in the DOL database and may differ from initial assessments or final amounts after informal conference, settlement, or judicial review. Company pages group inspection records by normalized employer name, city, and state as reported in OSHA records. That grouping is deterministic and non-fuzzy, but it is not a universal legal-entity identifier. If you believe any record is inaccurate, please report it and we will investigate. This product uses the DOL Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the DOL. For official and authoritative records, visit osha.gov.