OSHA enforcement policies, programs, interpretations, and data

OSHA enforcement actions must comply with 29 CFR 1903, Inspections, Citations and Proposed Penalties standard and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (codified at 29 U.S.C. 651 to 678). However, OSHA compliance officers use agency enforcement policies, programs, and interpretations to help them implement an inspection and issue citations. These documents inform officers how and when to conduct an inspection, but employers may wish to review them to gain insight:

• Field Operations Manual (FOM) — The manual ensures OSHA standards are enforced with uniformity. Visit www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives/cpl-02-00-164.
• Enforcement Memos — These provide agency policies and/or enforcement guidance. Over 30 memos are collected at www.osha.gov/enforcementmemos.
• National Emphasis Programs (NEPs) — NEPs are temporary enforcement programs that focus OSHA's resources on particular hazards and high-hazard industries. Currently, OSHA has 12 NEPs listed at www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives/nep.
  Editor's Note: OSHA updated its NEP on Amputations in Manufacturing Industries on June 26, 2025, issuing the revised CPL 03-00-027. On January 16, 2025, OSHA extended its Heat NEP (CPL 03-00-024) until April 8, 2026. OSHA canceled its COVID-19 NEP (DIR 2021-03 (CPL 03)) on January 16, 2025.
• Regional and Local Emphasis Programs (REPs and LEPs) — These regional and local inspection targeting programs address hazards or industries that pose a particular risk to workers in an office's jurisdiction. Go to www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives/lep.
• Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) — This program helps OSHA focus resources on employers that have demonstrated indifference to their OSH Act obligations. Check out www.osha.gov/enforcement/svep.
• Directives — These are written statements of policy and procedure on a single subject. See www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives.
• Enforcement and Compliance Directives (CPLs) — These written instructions provide compliance policies and enforcement procedures on certain subjects. Search for CPL type at www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives.
• Enforcement Exemptions and Limitations under the Annual Appropriations Act — This instruction describes exemptions/limitations for enforcement activities regarding certain small employers. See www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives/cpl-02-00-170.
• Multi-Employer Citation Policy — This is OSHA's policy for issuing citations on multi-employer worksites. See www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives/cpl-02-00-124.
• Site-Specific Targeting (SST) — This directive is OSHA’s main site-specific programmed inspection initiative for non-construction workplaces with 20 or more employees. Search for keyword SST at www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives.
• Memorandums of Understanding — These inter-agency agreements clarify where jurisdictional boundaries. Visit www.osha.gov/laws-regs/mou/publicationdate.
• OSHA Letters of Interpretation (LOIs) — These are responses to stakeholder questions. See www.osha.gov/laws-regs/interpretations.
• OSHA Enforcement Webpage — This page provides an all-in-one page on OSHA enforcement. Go to www.osha.gov/enforcement.
• Whistleblower Policy Documents — This page offers directives and memos related to whistleblower enforcement. Go to www.whistleblowers.gov/policy/directives. Also, search for 4488 at www.osha.gov/publications/bytopic/whistleblowers, to see a flowchart on how OSHA investigates complaints.

Enforcement and other data may help OSHA steer resources and set enforcement priorities:

• Frequently Cited OSHA Standards — This search offers the most frequently cited OSHA standards by industry. Visit www.osha.gov/ords/imis/citedstandard.html.
• Most Frequently Cited SERIOUS Violations — This slide presentation (updated each year) provides bar charts indicating the top serious violations by 29 CFR 1910 subpart. Check out https://tinyurl.com/yaypdx58.
• General Duty Standard Violation Search — This search page enables the user to search the text associated with violations citing Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act from OSHA inspections. Visit www.osha.gov/ords/imis/generalsearch.html.
• Industry Profile for an OSHA Standard — This tool ranks industries with violations of an OSHA standard. See www.osha.gov/ords/imis/industryprofile.html.
• Inspections within Industry — This search generates OSHA enforcement inspections within a specified industry group. Go to www.osha.gov/ords/imis/industry.html.
• Establishment Search — This search helps users locate OSHA enforcement inspections by establishment name. Check out www.osha.gov/ords/imis/establishment.html.
• Enforcement Cases with Initial Penalties of $40,000 or Above — This sortable page lists high-penalty cases. See www.osha.gov/enforcement/toppenalties.
• OSHA Enforcement Summary — This summary offers annual OSHA inspection activity data. Visit www.osha.gov/enforcement/current-enforcement-summary.
• DOL Data Enforcement — This data provides OSHA enforcement data using search tools and data catalog spreadsheets at https://enforcedata.dol.gov/homePage.php.
• Fatality Inspection Data — This data lists work-related fatalities for cases closed or citations issued on or after January 1, 2017. Check out www.osha.gov/fatalities.
• Severe Injury Reports — These reports include all work-related severe injuries, collected since January 1, 2015. Visit www.osha.gov/severeinjury.
• Injury Tracking Application (ITA) Information — This information provides the electronically submitted injury and illness data. See www.osha.gov/injuryreporting/.
• Bureau of Labor Statistics — This agency offers workplace injury, illness, and fatalities data. See www.bls.gov/iif/. Be sure to check out the Online Profiles Tool.
• Data Webpage — More data can be found at www.osha.gov/data.
• Whistleblower Data and Statistics — This page gives data and statistics on whistleblower cases. Click the OSHA Whistleblower Statistics link to get charts and tables. See www.whistleblowers.gov/factsheets_page/statistics.