The 10 Most Common Workplace Safety Violations (and How to Prevent Them)

Every year OSHA publishes its list of the most frequently cited standards, and every year the list looks remarkably similar. The same ten hazards dominate federal enforcement year after year — which means employers know exactly where inspectors will look, and where injuries actually happen. Penalty amounts adjust annually for inflation; serious violations now carry maximum penalties over sixteen thousand dollars each, and willful or repeated violations can exceed ten times that.

Here are the ten standards that top OSHA's most recent published enforcement data, why companies get cited, and what prevents each violation.

1. Fall Protection — General Requirements (29 CFR 1926.501)

Fall protection has been OSHA's most-cited standard for more than a decade, and falls remain the leading cause of death in construction. Citations typically involve unprotected edges, open-sided floors, and roof work without guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall arrest systems at 6 feet or more in construction.

Prevention: Identify every task that puts a worker at height, provide the right system for the job, and verify anchor points and harness fit before work starts.

2. Hazard Communication (29 CFR 1910.1200)

The top general-industry citation. Employers get cited for missing written HazCom programs, missing safety data sheets, unlabeled secondary containers, and untrained employees.

Prevention: Maintain a current chemical inventory, keep safety data sheets accessible to every shift, label every container, and train workers on the chemicals in their area — at hire and whenever a new hazard is introduced.

3. Ladders (29 CFR 1926.1053)

Citations involve damaged ladders, using the top step, wrong ladder for the task, and ladders that don't extend 3 feet above the landing surface.

Prevention: Inspect ladders before each use, remove damaged ladders from service immediately, and train on the basics: three points of contact, proper angle, never carry loads that compromise grip.

4. Respiratory Protection (29 CFR 1910.134)

Missing written programs, no medical evaluations before fit testing, and no annual fit tests are the recurring citations.

Prevention: If any task requires a respirator, you need the full program: hazard assessment, medical clearance, fit testing, training, and documented procedures.

5. Lockout/Tagout (29 CFR 1910.147)

Failures to control hazardous energy during service and maintenance: no energy-control procedures, no annual inspections of those procedures, and untrained "authorized" employees.

Prevention: Write machine-specific procedures, audit them annually, and make lockout devices immediately available where maintenance happens.

6. Powered Industrial Trucks (29 CFR 1910.178)

Forklift citations center on operator training and certification: operators never formally evaluated, no refresher after an incident, and damaged trucks kept in service.

Prevention: Certify every operator with formal instruction plus a practical evaluation, re-evaluate at least every three years, and take trucks with defects out of service.

7. Fall Protection — Training Requirements (29 CFR 1926.503)

Distinct from the hardware standard at number one: this citation means workers exposed to fall hazards were never trained, or the training was never documented by a competent person.

Prevention: Train before exposure, document with the trainer's signature and date, and retrain when equipment or conditions change.

8. Scaffolding (29 CFR 1926.451)

Missing guardrails, improper access, incomplete planking, and scaffolds erected or altered without a competent person's supervision.

Prevention: A competent person must inspect scaffolds before each shift, and full guardrail systems or fall arrest are required at 10 feet in construction.

9. Personal Protective Equipment — Eye and Face (29 CFR 1926.102)

Workers grinding, cutting, or handling chemicals without appropriate eye or face protection.

Prevention: Do a written PPE hazard assessment per task, provide equipment rated for the specific hazard, and enforce use consistently — including for supervisors.

10. Machine Guarding (29 CFR 1910.212)

Points of operation, nip points, and rotating parts left unguarded — usually because a guard was removed for maintenance and never reinstalled.

Prevention: Audit every machine for guarding, treat missing guards as an immediate stop-work condition, and tie guard removal to your lockout/tagout program.

What the List Tells You

Three themes run through all ten violations:

• Training gaps. At least half of these standards are cited for missing or undocumented training, not missing equipment. Documentation matters as much as delivery — training you can't prove didn't happen, as far as an inspector is concerned.
• Programs on paper only. Written programs that don't match what happens on the floor generate citations during the first employee interview.
• Known hazards, not exotic ones. Falls, chemicals, ladders, forklifts. Inspections rarely find surprises; they find deferred basics.

Beyond OSHA: Don't Forget Your Other Regulators

If your operation ships hazardous materials or generates hazardous waste, OSHA is only one of your regulators. DOT requires hazmat training for anyone who affects transportation safety, on a strict three-year renewal cycle, and the EPA requires training for personnel who handle hazardous waste under RCRA. The pattern is the same across all three agencies: trained people, documented proof.

Evergreen Comply provides online, mobile-first compliance training — DOT HAZMAT, EPA RCRA, DOT reasonable suspicion for supervisors, and more — with instant certificates and built-in renewal tracking, in English and Spanish.