OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard: What 1910.134 Requires, and the Enforcement Record
The respiratory protection standard is one of OSHA's most cited, and the records show a clear pattern: most citations are for the program behind the respirator, not the respirator itself. This is what 29 CFR 1910.134 requires and what the enforcement data shows. Citation counts come from the full DOL OSHA enforcement dataset, counted by citation issuance year, federal and state-plan programs combined. Data queried June 30, 2026.
Key Findings
- 29 CFR 1910.134, respiratory protection, has been cited 279,902 times across 277,552 inspections, with about $95.1 million in current penalties on record.
- OSHA ranks it fifth on its official Top 10 most cited standards for fiscal year 2025.
- Annual citations: 4,350 in 2020, 4,305 in 2021, 5,016 in 2022, 4,830 in 2023, 5,355 in 2024, and 4,409 in 2025.
- The most cited provisions are program requirements: medical evaluation (e)(1) with 28,849 citations, the written program (c)(1) with 27,267, and the duty to provide respirators (a)(2) with 20,264.
- Average penalties per citation, about $340 on the all-time record, are the lowest among the standards in this series, consistent with citations falling on program and documentation requirements rather than acute hazards.
What the respiratory protection standard requires
Where respirators are necessary, 1910.134 requires a written, worksite-specific program. The provisions cited most often are the building blocks of that program:
- Provide respirators, (a)(2). The employer must provide a respirator when one is necessary to protect health, and establish and maintain the program.
- Written program, (c)(1). A written, worksite-specific program covering selection, medical evaluation, fit testing, use, cleaning, maintenance, training, and program evaluation.
- Medical evaluation, (e)(1). Before fit testing or use, the employer must provide a medical evaluation to determine whether an employee can use a respirator.
- Fit testing, (f)(1) and (f)(2). Employees using tight-fitting respirators must pass a fit test before first use, when the facepiece changes, and at least annually.
The full regulatory text is published by the Office of the Federal Register at ecfr.gov (Title 29, Section 1910.134), and by OSHA at osha.gov.
The most cited respiratory protection provisions
Citations are recorded against specific paragraphs. The records show that the core program provisions, medical evaluation, the written program, and fit testing, account for the largest share of respiratory protection citations.
| Provision | Covers | Citations | Penalties |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910.134(e)(1) | Medical evaluation of users | 28,849 | $16.0M |
| 1910.134(c)(1) | Written respiratory protection program | 27,267 | $22.2M |
| 1910.134(a)(2) | Duty to provide respirators | 20,264 | $7.5M |
| 1910.134(f)(2) | Fit testing schedule | 15,560 | $7.2M |
| 1910.134(f)(1) | Fit testing requirement | 10,323 | $1.9M |
Counts are all years on record by citation issuance date. Penalties are current penalties on record, rounded to the nearest $100,000.
Citation trend, 2020 to 2025
| Year | Citations under 1910.134 |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 4,350 |
| 2021 | 4,305 |
| 2022 | 5,016 |
| 2023 | 4,830 |
| 2024 | 5,355 |
| 2025 | 4,409 |
Counts are by citation issuance year across federal and state-plan programs. The full record for this standard is on the 1910.134 standard page, and the wider ranking is in our Top 10 most cited standards analysis.
Methodology and sources
Citation counts are from the U.S. DOL OSHA enforcement dataset (developer.dol.gov), counted by citation issuance date, federal and state-plan programs combined, delete-flagged records excluded. Penalty values are current penalties on record, not necessarily final after settlement, rounded to the nearest $100,000. Standard text and paragraph subjects: Office of the Federal Register, eCFR Title 29, 1910.134, and OSHA, osha.gov. Most-cited ranking: OSHA, osha.gov/top10citedstandards, fiscal year 2025. No records are estimated. Data queried June 30, 2026.
29 CFR 1910.134. Where respirators are used at work, the employer must run a written respiratory protection program that includes respirator selection, medical evaluation of users, fit testing, training, and maintenance. It applies across general industry, construction, shipyards, and other sectors.
Under 1910.134(a)(2), the employer must provide a respirator when one is necessary to protect the health of the employee, and must establish and maintain the respiratory protection program. Respirators are used to control hazards the employer cannot feasibly engineer or administer out first.
Yes. Under 1910.134(f)(2), employees using tight-fitting respirators must be fit tested before first use, whenever a different facepiece is used, and at least every 12 months after that.
In the federal enforcement records, 29 CFR 1910.134 has been cited 279,902 times across 277,552 inspections, with about $95.1 million in current penalties on record. It was cited 4,409 times in 2025, and OSHA ranks it fifth on its Top 10 for fiscal year 2025.
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.