OSHA Inspections and Citations in 1990
Federal and state-plan OSHA inspections, citations and penalties recorded in 1990.
OSHA and state-plan agencies opened 135,533 inspections in 1990, 10.0% more than in 1989, and issued 418,998 citation items carrying $56,754,274 in current penalties. Michigan recorded the most inspections (15,393), followed by Washington and New York. Hazard Communication (1910.1200) was the most cited standard, with 33,762 citations. Planned inspections were the most common type (71,077), followed by complaint inspections (24,620).
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 | 33,762 | $2,833,293 |
| 2 | 1926.59Hazard Communication | 31,783 | $2,266,455 |
| 3 | 1910.219Mechanical Power-Transmission Apparatus | 9,326 | $1,547,357 |
| 4 | 1910.305Wiring methods, components, and equipment for general use | 9,296 | $621,171 |
| 5 | 1926.451Scaffolding - General Requirements | 8,824 | $2,450,938 |
| 6 | 1926.500Scope, application, and definitions applicable to this subpart | 7,441 | $2,112,803 |
| 7 | 1926.404Electrical - Wiring Design and Protection (Construction) | 7,405 | $1,103,547 |
| 8 | 1910.212General Requirements for All Machines (Machine Guarding) | 7,332 | $1,684,487 |
| 9 | 1910.134Respiratory Protection | 7,160 | $747,472 |
| 10 | 1910.215Abrasive Wheel Machinery | 6,771 | $579,722 |
Federal standards combine all of their subsections.
See the top 50 standards cited in 1990 →Inspections opened by type
Type labels as defined in DOL's OSHA enforcement data.
Inspections opened by state
2 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 1990
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 1990
How many OSHA inspections were opened in 1990?
135,533 federal and state-plan inspections were opened in 1990.
Which OSHA standard was cited most in 1990?
Hazard Communication (1910.1200), with 33,762 citation items issued in 1990.
Which state had the most OSHA inspections in 1990?
Michigan, with 15,393 inspections opened, followed by Washington (11,688).
How does 1990 compare with 1989?
Inspections opened went from 123,225 to 135,533 (+10.0%). Citation items issued went from 378,853 to 418,998 (+10.6%).
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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. Errors in data processing or establishment grouping are possible. Penalty amounts are the latest on record and may differ from the initial assessment or the final amount after informal conference, settlement or judicial review. Company pages group records by employer name, city and state as OSHA reported them, not by legal entity (methodology). Found an error? Report it. This product uses the DOL Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the DOL. For official and authoritative records, visit osha.gov.
SafetyRecord also offers this data as an API and bulk files, with inspections grouped by establishment and a record of how citations change after OSHA publishes them: Data & API.