OSHA's most-cited standards for FY2026, with the citation counts
Fall protection (29 CFR 1926.501) tops OSHA's preliminary list of the standards federal OSHA cited most from October 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026, ahead of hazard communication and lockout/tagout. OSHA published the order on October 5, 2026 and no numbers. We counted the citations in the Department of Labor's enforcement data, same window and same jurisdiction: 3,809 for fall protection, and 16,933 for the ten standards together, 31% fewer than in the same months a year earlier.
OSHA list read October 8, 2026 · DOL enforcement data extracted October 8, 2026
At a glance
3,809
federal citations under 29 CFR 1926.501, by our count
16,933
federal citations under the ten listed standards, by our count
-31%
against the same eleven months of FY2025 (10 of 10 standards down)
59%
of those citations went to construction employers (NAICS 23)
Counts: citations issued by federal OSHA offices, all industries, October 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026 (HazComFast count of Department of Labor enforcement data, extracted October 8, 2026). OSHA's ranking is OSHA's; the counts are not published by OSHA.
The FY2026 list, with counts
Rank and title as OSHA publishes them. Citations, inspections and the construction column are our count for October 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026, federal OSHA, all industries.
| OSHA rank | Standard (OSHA's title) | Federal citations | Inspections | To construction employers | What to open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 CFR 1926.501 Fall Protection, general requirements | 3,809 | 3,734 | 3,744 | Fall protection plan builder |
| 2 | 29 CFR 1910.1200 Hazard Communication, general industry | 1,899 | 1,052 | 396 | Written HazCom program generator |
| 3 | 29 CFR 1910.147 Control of Hazardous Energy (lockout/tagout), general industry | 1,822 | 965 | 29 | Lockout/tagout procedure generator |
| 4 | 29 CFR 1926.451 Scaffolding, construction | 1,637 | 793 | 1,581 | Scaffold and equipment inspection |
| 5 | 29 CFR 1926.1053 Ladders, construction | 1,573 | 1,367 | 1,547 | Ladder selector |
| 6 | 29 CFR 1910.134 Respiratory Protection, general industry | 1,554 | 635 | 267 | Respiratory protection program builder |
| 7 | 29 CFR 1910.178 Powered Industrial Trucks, general industry | 1,349 | 930 | 139 | Forklift operator certification |
| 8 | 29 CFR 1926.503 Fall Protection Training, construction | 1,205 | 1,173 | 1,174 | The standard, paragraph by paragraph |
| 9 | 29 CFR 1926.102 Eye and Face Protection, construction | 1,036 | 1,033 | 1,024 | PPE selector |
| 10 | 29 CFR 1910.212 Machine Guarding, general industry | 1,049 | 962 | 8 | The standard, paragraph by paragraph |
Ranks 9 and 10: our count gives 29 CFR 1910.212 1,049 citations and 29 CFR 1926.102 1,036, the reverse of OSHA's order. OSHA's page was updated on October 5, 2026; our extraction is from October 8, 2026, and the database changes as citations are contested, amended or deleted. We keep OSHA's order.
The same eleven months, a year apart
Same method, same jurisdiction: October 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026 against October 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025.
| Standard | FY2026, Oct 1 to Aug 31 | FY2025, Oct 1 to Aug 31 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 CFR 1926.501 | 3,809 | 6,194 | -39% |
| 29 CFR 1910.1200 | 1,899 | 2,648 | -28% |
| 29 CFR 1910.147 | 1,822 | 2,266 | -20% |
| 29 CFR 1926.451 | 1,637 | 2,000 | -18% |
| 29 CFR 1926.1053 | 1,573 | 2,502 | -37% |
| 29 CFR 1910.134 | 1,554 | 2,023 | -23% |
| 29 CFR 1910.178 | 1,349 | 1,908 | -29% |
| 29 CFR 1926.503 | 1,205 | 2,012 | -40% |
| 29 CFR 1926.102 | 1,036 | 1,752 | -41% |
| 29 CFR 1910.212 | 1,049 | 1,317 | -20% |
| The ten together | 16,933 | 24,622 | -31% |
The drop is not spread evenly over the year. Under 29 CFR 1926.501, federal OSHA issued 86 citations in October 2025 and 159 in November, against 396 a month on average from December to August. Counts for the most recent months can still change: the database is live.
Construction or general industry: the label is not the employer
5 of the ten are construction standards (29 CFR 1926) and 5 are general industry standards (29 CFR 1910). Who gets cited is another matter. Hazard communication is written in 1910.1200 and applies to construction through 1926.59, whose note makes the construction requirements identical: 396 of its 1,899 federal citations in the window went to construction employers. Respiratory protection works the same way through 1926.103: 267 of 1,554. Lockout/tagout is different. 1910.147 does not cover construction employment (1910.147(a)(1)(ii)(A)), and 29 of its 1,822 citations went to employers whose industry code is construction.
The paragraphs cited most under each standard
A citation names a paragraph, not just a standard. These are the three paragraphs that drew the most federal citations in the window, by our count.
#1 · Fall Protection, general requirements
- 1926.501(b)(13)2,890
- 1926.501(b)(1)356
- 1926.501(b)(10)218
#2 · Hazard Communication, general industry
- 1910.1200(e)(1)618
- 1910.1200(h)(1)485
- 1910.1200(g)(8)211
#3 · Control of Hazardous Energy (lockout/tagout), general industry
- 1910.147(c)(4)(i)384
- 1910.147(c)(6)(i)200
- 1910.147(c)(1)190
#4 · Scaffolding, construction
- 1926.451(g)(1)299
- 1926.451(e)(1)177
- 1926.451(b)(1)149
#5 · Ladders, construction
- 1926.1053(b)(1)1,047
- 1926.1053(b)(4)152
- 1926.1053(b)(13)118
#6 · Respiratory Protection, general industry
- 1910.134(e)(1)321
- 1910.134(c)(1)214
- 1910.134(f)(2)187
#7 · Powered Industrial Trucks, general industry
- 1910.178(l)(1)(i)235
- 1910.178(l)(6)157
- 1910.178(l)(4)(iii)111
#8 · Fall Protection Training, construction
- 1926.503(a)(1)733
- 1926.503(b)(1)337
- 1926.503(c)(3)61
#9 · Eye and Face Protection, construction
- 1926.102(a)(1)1,015
- 1926.102(a)(2)16
- 1926.102(b)(1)2
#10 · Machine Guarding, general industry
- 1910.212(a)(1)708
- 1910.212(a)(3)(ii)234
- 1910.212(a)(2)34
How we counted
- Source: U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA enforcement data (inspection and violation tables), apiprod.dol.gov v4, extracted October 8, 2026.
- Window: citations issued from October 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026, the period of OSHA's list.
- Jurisdiction: citations from inspections by federal OSHA offices. Offices of State Plans are left out, as in OSHA's list.
- All industries, as in OSHA's list. The construction column counts employers whose industry code (NAICS) starts with 23.
- Deleted citations are excluded. A citation is counted once, under the standard and paragraph it names.
- The comparison year uses the same rules over October 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025.
The same method, applied to construction for the full FY2025, landed within a few citations of OSHA's Frequently Cited Standards tool when we checked it on September 26, 2026. It is still our count, not a figure OSHA publishes, and the database changes as cases are contested, settled or deleted.
Download the data
One row per standard: OSHA's rank and title, our counts for FY2026 and for the same months of FY2025, the construction column, the most-cited paragraph and the extraction date. Free to reuse with a link to this page.
Key facts
- OSHA's preliminary FY2026 list covers October 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026, inspections by federal OSHA, all industries. It ranks ten standards and publishes no counts (page updated October 5, 2026).
- 3,809 citations under 29 CFR 1926.501 issued by federal OSHA offices, all industries, October 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026 (HazComFast count of Department of Labor enforcement data, extracted October 8, 2026).
- The ten standards together drew 16,933 federal citations in that window by our count, 31% fewer than in the same months a year earlier (October 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025). 10 of the ten went down.
- 5 of the ten are construction standards (29 CFR 1926), and 59% of the ten standards' citations went to construction employers (NAICS 23).
- Hazard communication is written in 1910.1200 and applies to construction through 1926.59, whose note makes the construction requirements identical: 396 of its 1,899 federal citations in the window went to construction employers.
- Our count puts 29 CFR 1910.212 (1,049) slightly ahead of 29 CFR 1926.102 (1,036). OSHA ranks them the other way; the page keeps OSHA's order.
FAQ
What is OSHA's most-cited standard for FY2026?
Fall protection, general requirements (29 CFR 1926.501), first on OSHA's preliminary list for October 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026, published on October 5, 2026. Hazard communication (29 CFR 1910.1200) is second and lockout/tagout (29 CFR 1910.147) third. By our count of Department of Labor enforcement data, federal OSHA issued 3,809 fall protection citations in that window.
Does OSHA publish the number of citations behind the top 10?
No. The top 10 page gives the order of the standards and no counts. The numbers on this page are ours: citations under each standard in the Department of Labor's OSHA enforcement data, issued by federal OSHA offices from October 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026, all industries, extracted October 8, 2026.
Why do other figures for the same standards differ?
Because they measure something else. OSHA's Frequently Cited Standards tool reports counts for one industry code (NAICS) at a time, never for all industries at once. A count for construction over a full fiscal year and a count for all industries over eleven months are not the same measure. Ours is labeled with its window, jurisdiction and extraction date.
Is the FY2026 list final?
No. OSHA calls it preliminary. It covers October 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026, and fiscal year 2026 runs to September 30, 2026.
Are State Plan citations included?
No. OSHA's list follows inspections by federal OSHA, and our count leaves out citations issued by State Plan offices. In states with their own plan, a citation can carry the state's own rule number instead of the federal one.
Can I reuse the data?
Yes. The CSV and the JSON are free to download. Please name HazComFast as the source and link to this page, so readers find the method and the extraction date with the numbers.
The FY2025 list and what it said about falls: OSHA's Top 10 Most-Cited Standards: FY2025 data. All our enforcement studies are on the OSHA Data & Research hub.
Sources
Written and maintained by HazComFast. OSHA list read October 8, 2026; Department of Labor data extracted October 8, 2026.
- OSHA, Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards for Fiscal Year 2026 (Oct. 1, 2025, to Aug. 31, 2026) (updated October 5, 2026, read October 8, 2026)
- U.S. Department of Labor, Open Data Portal: OSHA enforcement data, inspection and violation tables (extracted October 8, 2026)
- 29 CFR 1926.501, Duty to have fall protection (eCFR)
- 29 CFR 1926.59, Hazard communication in construction (eCFR)
General information, not legal advice. Counts by HazComFast from public Department of Labor data; OSHA publishes the ranking only.