In 2025, improper fall protection was once again the most-cited violation of OSHA jobsite rules. A failure to protect against falls also featured prominently in three other violations in the top 10.

Top OSHA violations for fiscal year 2025

1. Fall protection – General requirements: 5,914 total violations
2. Hazard communication: 2,546
3. Ladders: 2,405
4. Control of hazardous energy – Lockout/tagout: 2,177
5. Respiratory protection: 1,953
6. Fall protection – Training requirements: 1,907
7. Scaffolding: 1,905
8. Powered industrial trucks: 1,826
9. Personal protective and life-saving equipment – Eye and face protection: 1,665
10. Machine guarding: 1,239

OSHA violations carry a financial penalty that must be paid by the assessed company. In 2025, those penalties were $16,550 for each violation, as well as each day an employer fails to abate a previously cited violation. The maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations is $165,514 per violation.

Penalty amounts are typically adjusted each year for inflation. But OSHA announced last week that there will be no inflation adjustment for 2026, blaming the six-week federal government shutdown last fall.

“The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) did not publish its October 2025 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) data due to a lapse in funding,” OSHA wrote in a Federal Register notice. “Because the relevant law requires that annual penalty adjustments be based specifically on October CPI-U data—with no alternative calculation allowed—the 2026 adjustment is cancelled entirely.”

OSHA did note that it will review the inflation normally when determining 2027 penalties.