OSHA Citations for Chemical Exposures
Construction workers encounter many harmful substances on the job, including asbestos, lead, and silica. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) oversees the enforcement of workplace safety and health regulations in the United States to reduce exposure to these hazards.
Using OSHA enforcement data, this dashboard examines OSHA citations and penalties for violations related to asbestos, lead, and silica. The Exposure and Year filters update both the charts and the bold and underlined key findings.
Following the interactive dashboard, you will find more information on the data source, definitions, chart notes, a downloadable data file, and recommended citation. This interactive data dashboard corresponds to a chapter in the upcoming PDF version of the Construction Chart Book-7th edition, which will be published this summer. Data will be updated annually as available. If you have questions or comments, please email [email protected].
About the Data
Data comes from the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA Enforcement Data.
U.S. Department of Labor, 2011-2024 OSHA Enforcement Data https://enforcedata.dol.gov/views/data_summary.php
Definitions and Chart Notes
Definitions
- Citation – Violation of a standard for one of the following substances resulting from an inspection in the construction industry:
- Asbestos – Citation resulting from violation of CFR 1910.1001 or CFR 1926.1101.
- Lead – Citation resulting from violation of CFR 1910.1025 or CFR 1926.62.
- Silica – Citation resulting from violation of CFR 1910.1053 or CFR 1926.1153.
- Detailed subsector – 5-digit NAICS codes within construction
- Establishment size – The number of employees working for an establishment during a calendar year.
- Major subsector – 3-digit NAICS codes within construction.
- Penalty – Current penalty assessed for a citation, adjusted for inflation to December 2018 dollars.
Chart Notes
- Silica data are unavailable before 2017, as the standards were not published until March 25, 2016.
Recommended Citation and Data File
Recommended Citation
CPWR–The Center for Construction Research and Training. [2025]. OSHA Citations for Chemical Exposures [dashboard].
Data File
The Data File includes the underlying data used to examine OSHA citations for chemical exposures. If interested in other data year combinations, please email [email protected].