Each year, OSHA releases its list of the Top 10 most frequently cited safety standards—and year after year, the same issues continue to trip up companies in manufacturing, construction, and warehousing.
In fiscal year 2024, the leading violation once again was Fall Protection – General Requirements, totaling 6,307 citations.
Here’s the bottom line: the same hazards that top OSHA’s violation list are also the ones that lead to workplace injuries, workers’ comp claims, and employees missing work. But with the right occupational medicine partner, many of these situations can be better managed—or even avoided entirely. That’s where OccMedMD fits in.
OSHA’s Top 10 Violations of the 2024 Year
Whether you’re leading safety initiatives or overseeing HR, these citations should be on your radar. Here’s a summary of OSHA’s most cited standards for the 2024 fiscal year:
Why These Hazards Keep Showing Up—and What That Means for Your Team
These violations aren’t just regulatory issues—they often tie directly to real-world workplace injuries that disrupt productivity, increase insurance premiums, and trigger claim-related headaches.
Falls from ladders or scaffolding can cause sprains, fractures, or serious trauma that take employees off the job for weeks. Improper use of PPE (or none at all) puts workers at risk of exposure to hazardous substances, leading to skin irritation, eye injuries, or even chemical burns.
At OccMedMD, we have seen many preventable injuries due to not wearing proper PPE—missing hardhats, no steal toed boots, and not wearing protective gloves are all issues we’ve seen walk through our doors. Machine guarding failures and bypassed lockout/tagout procedures are among the top causes of crush injuries, amputations, and other serious medical events—incidents that are always recordable and often claim-heavy.
Even something as simple as a missed or inadequate fall protection training can set the stage for both injuries and OSHA citations. The point is clear: many OSHA violations show up downstream as reportable, costly health events—and once an injury occurs, how you manage it matters just as much as how you tried to prevent it.
How OccMedMD Helps You Respond When Things Don’t Go as Planned
Even with the best safety protocols, incidents happen—and when they do, how you respond can make the difference between effective recovery and prolonged disruption. That’s exactly where OccMedMD comes in.
Take falls, ladder mishaps, or minor slips. These can easily turn into OSHA recordables—or worse—if not handled quickly and properly. We evaluate the employee promptly, document appropriately, and coordinate a return-to-work plan that keeps your team moving forward all with their safe recovery in mind. Whether that means short-term modifications to their current scope of work or continuing training in their role, we help reduce time away from work while prioritizing safety and recovery.
For things like chemical exposures or situations involving respiratory protection, we know time and clarity are critical. Our clinicians are trained to conduct exposure testing, monitor recovery, and follow OSHA documentation protocols to help your team stay compliant without letting things escalate. Even cuts, many that appear gruesome, can be handled in our office right away. On average, our in-office bills are a third of what they are at Urgent Care and a quarter of what you’d pay at the Emergency Room.
And when the injury involves equipment, like a powered forklift or a machine guarding failure, we’re your partner in managing not just treatment—but also claim prevention. We’ll assess and document appropriately, communicate clearly with your team, and develop a plan to return the employee to work quickly and safely, often avoiding a lost-time case.
We also support supervisors and safety leads with optional education sessions, quick consults, and documentation reviews. Dr. Webb is always available for a quick training session or a keynote speech to keep our partners and their teams safe. It’s not just care—we give your team the tools to recognize risk and respond the right way. At the end of the day, we’re more than a clinic. We’re a team that understands OSHA, claims, injury prevention, and your business. When something happens, we’re right there to help you recover fast and smart.
What Safety and HR Leaders Can Do Right Now
Every organization can proactively strengthen its safety systems. Here are four steps you can take immediately:
✅ Review OSHA’s Top 10 and do a “violation vulnerability” check across your site.
✅ Establish a relationship with our clinic, OccMedMD—not just for treatment, but for real-time injury strategy guidance.
✅ Use your own injury data to spot trends tied to known hazards—and correct them early.
✅ Integrate return-to-work and injury prevention education into supervisor training.
OSHA Compliance + Smarter Injury Response = Better Outcomes
Avoiding OSHA violations isn’t just about ticking off safety checklists—it’s about protecting your people, your operations, and your bottom line. Injuries will happen. But how you respond—and who helps manage that response—can change everything. At OccMedMD, we go beyond treatment. We’re your partner in workplace health, OSHA-aware care, fast turnaround, and keeping your workforce strong, ready, and productive. When you only have one number to remember, it’s easier to get care for your employees all while keeping your documentation streamlined.
Ready to take the next step? Book a free OSHA-gap & recordable-risk review session with Dr. Webb and the OccMedMD team. It could keep your next injury from becoming your next violation.