OSHA Inspections and Citations in 1988
Federal and state-plan OSHA inspections, citations and penalties recorded in 1988.
OSHA and state-plan agencies opened 125,535 inspections in 1988, 3.7% fewer than in 1987, and issued 320,630 citation items carrying $32,558,182 in current penalties. New York recorded the most inspections (11,615), followed by California and Texas. Hazard Communication (1910.1200) was the most cited standard, with 29,526 citations. Planned inspections were the most common type (70,181), followed by complaint inspections (19,241).
Inspections and states count by year opened. Citations, penalties and standards count by year issued. Do not add the two groups together.
Most cited standards
| # | Standard | Citations | Penalties |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1910.1200Hazard Communication | 29,526 | $824,385 |
| 2 | 1926.404Electrical - Wiring Design and Protection (Construction) | 10,572 | $1,066,787 |
| 3 | 1926.451Scaffolding - General Requirements | 9,874 | $2,161,717 |
| 4 | 1910.219Mechanical Power-Transmission Apparatus | 9,449 | $1,028,557 |
| 5 | 1926.500Fall Protection - Scope, Application, and Definitions | 9,006 | $1,937,793 |
| 6 | 1910.305Electrical - Wiring Methods, Components, and Equipment | 8,943 | $271,465 |
| 7 | 1910.212General Requirements for All Machines (Machine Guarding) | 7,458 | $1,175,109 |
| 8 | 1910.215Abrasive Wheel Machinery | 7,143 | $326,114 |
| 9 | 1910.134Respiratory Protection | 6,785 | $918,075 |
| 10 | 1910.304Electrical - Wiring Design and Protection | 6,481 | $436,604 |
Federal standards combine all of their subsections.
See the top 50 standards cited in 1988 →Inspections opened by type
Type labels as defined in DOL's OSHA enforcement data.
Inspections opened by state
3 inspections with other or missing state codes are not listed.
State Plan: OSHA-approved plan covering private and public employers. Public only: State Plan for state and local government workers only. No plan: federal OSHA has jurisdiction over private sector workplaces. Source: osha.gov/stateplans.
Other OSHA records for 1988
Severe injury reports
OSHA's severe injury reporting requirement began on January 1, 2015.
Injury and illness summaries (Form 300A)
OSHA has collected Form 300A summary data since 2016.
Inspections opened per year, 1970 to 2026
Questions about 1988
How many OSHA inspections were opened in 1988?
125,535 federal and state-plan inspections were opened in 1988.
Which OSHA standard was cited most in 1988?
Hazard Communication (1910.1200), with 29,526 citation items issued in 1988.
Which state had the most OSHA inspections in 1988?
New York, with 11,615 inspections opened, followed by California (8,268).
How does 1988 compare with 1987?
Inspections opened went from 130,399 to 125,535 (-3.7%). Citation items issued went from 298,712 to 320,630 (+7.3%).
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All years
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Data Source and Methodology
DOL source dataData on this page comes from the U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA enforcement database, accessed via the DOL public data API. Records are refreshed from published DOL data. 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.