Disclaimer
PlainWorker publishes federal workplace-enforcement data to help workers, job seekers, journalists, and researchers understand employers' safety and wage records. It is an information resource, not legal, employment, or professional advice. This page explains what the numbers mean and what they cannot tell you.
Informational use only
The inspection records, violation counts, penalty amounts, and back-wage figures shown on PlainWorker are drawn from public federal enforcement data and are provided for general information only. They are not legal advice, not employment or hiring advice, and not a recommendation for or against any employer. If you are facing a workplace-safety hazard or believe you are owed wages, contact OSHA, the Wage & Hour Division, or a qualified attorney. If you are in immediate danger at work, call 911. The data is explained in full in our methodology.
What the numbers can and cannot tell you
- The record is historical, not current conditions. An inspection, violation, or penalty reflects what federal inspectors found on a past date at a specific establishment. It is not a statement about an employer's safety practices today, which may have improved or changed.
- Penalties are adjusted over time. OSHA records both an initial and a current penalty; the current figure reflects reductions after informal conferences, settlements, or contests. A lower current penalty does not by itself indicate the original hazard was minor.
- No record is not the same as a clean record. An employer absent from this index may simply never have been inspected, or may operate under a different legal name or establishment. Absence is not a safety endorsement, and presence is not an accusation of current wrongdoing.
- Rankings are relative, not a safety rating. "Most penalized" or "most inspected" rankings compare employers to each other from the available federal data; larger employers naturally accrue more inspections. The rankings are not a verdict on which workplaces are safe.
- Establishment-level data may not capture a whole company. Federal records are filed per establishment; a single corporate name may appear as many separate locations, and totals shown here reflect the records matched to a given name and place.
No affiliation, no warranty
PlainWorker is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by OSHA, the Wage & Hour Division, the U.S. Department of Labor, or any government agency. While we work to render the federal data accurately and fix errors at the source (see our editorial & corrections policy), the data is provided "as is" without warranty. Always confirm safety- or employment-critical information with the official federal sources linked throughout this site and, where appropriate, with a qualified professional.