Most Dangerous Industries
Industries ranked by average OSHA penalty per inspection, limited to sectors with at least 50 recorded inspections so a single large penalty over few inspections can't distort the ranking. The cohort median across these industries is $2,331 per inspection - individual industries near the top of the list can move sharply with a small number of large citations, so compare each rate to this median before drawing conclusions.
According to enforcement records from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, current as of July 2026, more than 391,000 inspections have been logged across every tracked industry sector. See our methodology for how the rankings and penalty rates are computed.
What this ranking measures: OSHA penalty intensity, how much an industry is fined per inspection when violations are found. It reflects enforcement outcomes, not a direct measure of injury or fatality rates; an industry can rank high here because it is more heavily inspected or more strictly cited, not necessarily because working conditions are objectively more hazardous than in an industry ranked lower.
| # | Industry | Employers | Inspections | Violations | Total Penalties | Avg/Inspection |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manufacturing | 44,645 | 115,492 | 355,718 | $703,720,036 | $6,093 |
| 2 | Wholesale Trade | 6,881 | 13,442 | 37,722 | $62,701,732 | $4,665 |
| 3 | Retail Trade | 12,945 | 10,505 | 21,699 | $37,513,641 | $3,571 |
| 4 | Construction | 61,260 | 123,354 | 204,124 | $414,572,962 | $3,361 |
| 5 | Transportation & Warehousing | 9,914 | 18,441 | 32,095 | $60,767,832 | $3,295 |
| 6 | Administrative & Waste Services | 12,823 | 15,043 | 34,275 | $47,953,392 | $3,188 |
| 7 | Accommodation & Food Services | 25,016 | 5,697 | 13,390 | $16,755,923 | $2,941 |
| 8 | Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting | 5,988 | 8,139 | 14,115 | $20,649,525 | $2,537 |
| 9 | Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | 2,226 | 3,932 | 11,268 | $9,975,071 | $2,537 |
| 10 | Other Services | 6,486 | 7,967 | 24,782 | $19,909,698 | $2,499 |
| 11 | Professional & Technical Services | 3,597 | 2,095 | 4,169 | $4,883,167 | $2,331 |
| 12 | Real Estate & Rental | 1,671 | 1,812 | 3,773 | $4,005,267 | $2,210 |
| 13 | Utilities | 2,996 | 7,843 | 18,378 | $16,505,562 | $2,104 |
| 14 | Mining, Quarrying, Oil & Gas | 2,294 | 5,098 | 7,210 | $10,411,592 | $2,042 |
| 15 | Information | 1,177 | 963 | 1,492 | $1,811,206 | $1,881 |
| 16 | Healthcare & Social Assistance | 17,945 | 12,060 | 20,031 | $21,194,240 | $1,757 |
| 17 | Management of Companies | 111 | 113 | 134 | $179,061 | $1,585 |
| 18 | Educational Services | 3,186 | 8,042 | 18,306 | $9,639,075 | $1,199 |
| 19 | Finance & Insurance | 763 | 277 | 259 | $236,266 | $853 |
| 20 | Public Administration | 9,693 | 30,559 | 62,320 | $25,259,218 | $827 |
| 21 | Other | 2,225 | 235 | 4 | $750 | $3 |
Every figure on PlainWorker is rendered directly from official U.S. Department of Labor OSHA and Wage & Hour Division enforcement records, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.