Industries With the Most OSHA Violations on Record (2026)

OSHA enforcement is not evenly distributed across the economy. A handful of industries — overwhelmingly construction and specialty trades — account for a disproportionate share of all citations issued each year. Here are the patterns visible in our current dataset.

Industries with the most violations cited

NAICS codes ranked by total citations across all employers in the database:

1. Roofing Contractors (NAICS 238160) — 1,918 citations across 39,842 employers
2. Framing Contractors (NAICS 238130) — 1,561 citations across 23,598 employers
3. Highway, Street & Bridge Construction (NAICS 237310) — 573 citations across 5,524 employers
4. Commercial Building Construction (NAICS 236220) — 543 citations across 19,874 employers
5. General Automotive Repair (NAICS 811111) — 441 citations across 3,573 employers
6. NAICS 611110 (NAICS 611110) — 441 citations across 3,113 employers
7. Masonry Contractors (NAICS 238140) — 368 citations across 8,252 employers
8. New Single-Family Housing Construction (NAICS 236115) — 346 citations across 12,380 employers
9. Siding Contractors (NAICS 238170) — 344 citations across 5,660 employers
10. Site Preparation Contractors (NAICS 238910) — 324 citations across 7,132 employers

Industries with the most inspections

Inspection counts tell a slightly different story than citation counts — they reflect how often OSHA shows up, not how often they find something. The most-inspected industries:

1. Roofing Contractors (NAICS 238160) — 51,682 inspections
2. Framing Contractors (NAICS 238130) — 31,435 inspections
3. Commercial Building Construction (NAICS 236220) — 29,556 inspections
4. New Single-Family Housing Construction (NAICS 236115) — 13,889 inspections
5. Masonry Contractors (NAICS 238140) — 10,735 inspections
6. Electrical Contractors (NAICS 238210) — 10,121 inspections
7. Plumbing, Heating & Air-Conditioning Contractors (NAICS 238220) — 9,833 inspections
8. Site Preparation Contractors (NAICS 238910) — 9,296 inspections
9. Highway, Street & Bridge Construction (NAICS 237310) — 8,534 inspections
10. Water & Sewer Line Construction (NAICS 237110) — 8,103 inspections

Why construction dominates both lists

Construction occupies a unique position in OSHA enforcement for several reasons:

1. Inherent hazard profile. Falls from elevation, struck-by accidents, and electrocutions are the "Fatal Four" — and construction is the industry where they happen most often.
2. Programmed inspection priority. OSHA's Site-Specific Targeting and Local Emphasis Programs explicitly prioritize construction, especially residential and commercial framing.
3. Multi-employer worksites. A single construction site can produce citations against the general contractor, multiple subcontractors, and staffing agencies — multiplying both inspection counts and citations.

If you work in or hire from one of these industries, the most-cited OSHA standards rarely change year over year. We covered the construction-specific list in The 10 most-cited OSHA standards in construction.

How to use industry data

Industry context matters when reading any individual employer's record. An electrical contractor with three violations across two inspections isn't unusual; a software company with the same numbers would be. Use our industries directory to compare an employer against peers in their NAICS code, and statistics page for the broader cross-industry view.