OSHA Glossary — Workplace Safety Terms Defined

Violation classifications

How OSHA categorizes citations by severity. The classification drives both the penalty amount and what a record means in context.

Willful Violation (W)#: A violation OSHA found to be committed with intentional disregard for, or plain indifference to, the OSH Act and standards. The highest penalty tier — and the single most serious data point on an employer’s record. Read more →
Repeat Violation (R)#: A citation for a substantially similar violation OSHA cited within the past 5 years. Increased penalty cap; indicates the employer didn’t internalize the original abatement. Read more →
Serious Violation (S)#: A condition with a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm. Carries higher penalties than Other-than-serious; the most common severity tier for hazard-related citations.
Other-than-serious Violation (O)#: A violation with a direct relationship to job safety but unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm. Often paperwork or recordkeeping in nature.
Gravity#: A code (W/R/S/O/U) OSHA assigns to each violation indicating severity. See the four entries above.

How and why OSHA shows up at a workplace, and what the inspection record contains.

Activity Number (activity_nr)#: OSHA’s unique identifier for an inspection. Used to link inspection records to their violations and accidents.
Complaint Inspection#: An OSHA inspection triggered by a formal worker complaint about hazardous conditions. Complainants may request confidentiality. Read more →
Fatality / Catastrophe Inspection#: An OSHA inspection initiated after a workplace fatality or an event causing in-patient hospitalization of three or more workers. Required by federal reporting law.
Programmed Inspection#: A planned inspection under OSHA’s targeting programs (Site-Specific Targeting, Local Emphasis Programs) prioritizing high-hazard industries.
Inspection Scope#: Whether the inspection was Comprehensive (entire establishment), Partial (specific operation), or Records-only.
Inspection Type#: The trigger for the inspection: Programmed, Complaint, Referral, Accident, Fatality, Follow-up, etc.

What the dollar amounts on a record mean — and what they don’t.

Penalty (Initial)#: The original penalty OSHA proposed at citation issuance, before any informal conference or settlement reductions.
Penalty (Current)#: The post-negotiation penalty amount OSHA has assessed. Frequently lower than the initial proposed penalty after informal conference or settlement.
Abatement#: The action an employer takes to correct a cited hazard. OSHA assigns a deadline for completion; failure to abate can trigger additional citations.
Citation#: A formal written allegation that an employer violated an OSHA standard. Each citation includes the standard cited, classification, and proposed penalty.

How OSHA records are tagged for comparison across employers, industries, and states.

NAICS Code#: North American Industry Classification System code identifying the establishment’s industry. Used to group employers for cross-industry safety comparisons.
SIC Code#: Standard Industrial Classification — predecessor to NAICS. Still appears in legacy OSHA records.
Establishment#: A single physical workplace location. One employer (legal entity) may operate many establishments. OSHA records are keyed by establishment, not parent company.
Site State#: The U.S. state where the inspected establishment is located. Drives jurisdiction (federal OSHA vs. state plan).
State Plan#: A state-run OSHA program approved by federal OSHA (e.g. Cal/OSHA, MIOSHA, OR-OSHA). State plans enforce their own standards meeting or exceeding federal minimums.

The federal apparatus behind the records.

OSHA — Occupational Safety and Health Administration#: The federal agency that sets and enforces workplace safety standards under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
OSH Act#: The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the federal law that created OSHA and gave it authority to set workplace safety standards.
General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1))#: OSHA’s catch-all requirement that employers furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Used when no specific standard applies.
DOL — Department of Labor#: The cabinet-level U.S. federal department that houses OSHA, the Wage and Hour Division, BLS, and other labor agencies.
BLS — Bureau of Labor Statistics#: The federal statistical agency that publishes workplace injury and fatality data complementary to OSHA enforcement records.
Whistleblower Protection#: Federal law (OSH Act Section 11(c)) prohibiting retaliation against workers who report safety concerns. Complaints must be filed within 30 days. Read more →