osha enforcement data is at the center of a new state-by-state look at where employers most often fall short on chemical safety training and warning workers about hazards. The analysis, based on HazCom-related enforcement records from 2021 through 2025, focuses on gaps in training, labeling, and access to safety data sheets for employees working with or near hazardous chemicals. The issue matters because millions of U. S. workers handle, store, or work close to substances ranging from cleaning solvents and industrial adhesives to flammable gases and corrosive materials, and failures in communication can leave workers without the information needed to protect themselves.
What the analysis examined in OSHA records
Researchers at Trace One reviewed OSHA enforcement data covering the 2021–2025 period to pinpoint where hazard communication violations are occurring and where employers fail to warn workers about chemical dangers. In this review, violations were treated as HazCom-related when the enforcement record referenced OSHA’s 1910. 1200 standard and any of its subsections.
The researchers ranked states based on total HazCom violations per 100, 000 workers over that 2021–2025 window. For additional context in each state, the analysis also calculated total HazCom violations, the share of inspections that included a HazCom violation, total HazCom violation penalties, the most common HazCom violation, and the most common industry associated with HazCom violations.
The data sources listed for the study were OSHA’s Enforcement Data and the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Employment Statistics.
Why HazCom compliance gaps remain high stakes
Hazard communication is widely viewed by federal regulators and occupational health experts as a foundational element of workplace safety because it determines whether workers have the information needed to protect themselves. When training is incomplete, labeling is unclear, or safety data sheets are not accessible, employees may not fully understand the health risks they face, including respiratory illness, chemical burns, or fire and explosion hazards.
To address these risks, OSHA established the Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom) in 1983. Often referred to as the “right-to-know” rule, it requires employers to classify chemical hazards, label containers, maintain safety data sheets, and train workers on safe handling procedures.
Yet, more than four decades after HazCom was adopted, it remains one of OSHA’s most frequently cited workplace safety standards, a signal in enforcement data that compliance gaps persist across industries and regions.
In the middle of the findings, the same through-line holds: osha enforcement records tied to 1910. 1200 continue to surface repeatedly, underscoring that the basics of hazard communication—classification, labeling, safety data sheets, and training—are still not consistently executed.
Immediate reactions from institutions named in the analysis
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal agency that established HazCom and maintains the enforcement records used in the review, is the central institution connected to the compliance picture outlined in the analysis. The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), whose Current Employment Statistics were used alongside enforcement records, is the other federal body tied directly to the dataset used to normalize violations per 100, 000 workers.
Trace One, the research organization that conducted the analysis described here, framed the goal as identifying where U. S. employers most frequently fail to warn workers about chemical dangers. The analysis highlights that hazard communication obligations are not limited to one single control: they include container labeling, safety data sheets, and employee training as an integrated system intended to ensure workers understand the hazards in their daily environment.
Quick context on what’s behind the surge of attention
The renewed focus stems from the continued frequency of HazCom citations and the scale of chemical exposure in everyday work settings. The analysis draws from a multi-year enforcement window, 2021 through 2025, to map where compliance gaps appear most pronounced.
What happens next
What comes next is continued scrutiny of where hazard communication violations are occurring and how employers are meeting the practical requirements of labeling, safety data sheets, and training. As enforcement records continue to accumulate beyond the 2021–2025 window, the same metrics used in this review—violations per 100, 000 workers, inspection shares, and the most common HazCom issues—can be used to track whether compliance improves. For workers and employers alike, the bottom-line question remains whether osha data keeps showing the same persistent gaps in chemical safety training and warning systems, or whether future enforcement records reflect stronger adherence to HazCom’s “right-to-know” protections.
