Name: Certified Training USA Compliance Risk Index
Creator: Certified Training USA
License: https://www.usa.gov/government-works

In short

The highest-risk standard we track is 29 CFR 1926.501 (Fall Protection Competent Person Awareness), with a composite score of 92.2/100. It combines 30,929 citations since 2023, a top-decile average penalty, and 99.8% of those citations landing on employers under 250 staff -- meaning this is overwhelmingly a small-business exposure, not a large-enterprise one.

Cite this

“According to Certified Training USA's Compliance Risk Index (2026-08-29), 29 CFR 1926.501 ranks highest, with a composite score of 92.2 out of 100 -- driven by 30,929 OSHA citations since 2023 and 99.8% of those citations landing on employers with under 250 staff.”

Ranked by composite Compliance Risk Index score. Volume, severity and small-employer exposure shown individually alongside it.
#	Standard	Score breakdown	Risk score	Avg penalty
1	29 CFR 1926.501 Fall Protection Competent Person Awareness	Volume 98 Severity 80 Exposure 100	92.2	$7,082
2	29 CFR 1910.147 Lockout/Tagout Authorized Employee Training	Volume 89 Severity 83 Exposure 85	85.9	$7,307
3	29 CFR 1910.212 Machine Guarding Required Awareness	Volume 77 Severity 89 Exposure 87	83.6	$8,708
4	29 CFR 1926.651 Excavation and Trenching Competent Person Awareness	Volume 58 Severity 97 Exposure 98	81.5	$9,374
5	29 CFR 1926.652 Excavation and Trenching Competent Person Awareness	Volume 48 Severity 97 Exposure 98	77.7	$9,374
6	29 CFR 1926.451 Scaffold Safety and Competent Person Awareness	Volume 80 Severity 55 Exposure 100	75.9	$4,073
7	29 CFR 1926.1053 Ladder Safety	Volume 86 Severity 44 Exposure 100	74.6	$3,396
8	29 CFR 1910.178 Forklift Operator Certification	Volume 83 Severity 52 Exposure 93	74.5	$3,997
9	29 CFR 1910.22 Slip, Trip & Fall Prevention Training	Volume 64 Severity 67 Exposure 88	71.2	$5,133
10	29 CFR 1910.28 Slip, Trip & Fall Prevention Training	Volume 61 Severity 67 Exposure 89	70.2	$5,133
11	29 CFR 1910.134 Respiratory Protection Required User Training	Volume 92 Severity 11 Exposure 96	64.7	$1,839
12	29 CFR 1910.132 Eye & Face Protection and PPE Hazard Assessment Awareness	Volume 73 Severity 34 Exposure 93	64.7	$2,910
13	29 CFR 1910.1200 OSHA Hazard Communication and GHS Awareness	Volume 95 Severity 5 Exposure 97	64	$1,434
14	29 CFR 1910.146 Confined Space Entry, General Industry	Volume 52 Severity 58 Exposure 91	63.7	$4,943
15	29 CFR 1910.23 Slip, Trip & Fall Prevention Training	Volume 33 Severity 67 Exposure 91	59.4	$5,133
16	29 CFR 1910.95 Hearing Conservation Awareness	Volume 39 Severity 48 Exposure 95	56.4	$3,568
17	29 CFR 1910.333 NFPA 70E Arc Flash / Electrical Safety Awareness	Volume 20 Severity 77 Exposure 85	56.3	$6,163
18	29 CFR 1910.268 Telecommunications Climbing Safety and Pole-Top Rescue Awareness	Volume 5 Severity 86 Exposure 94	55.3	$7,948
19	29 CFR 1926.1153 Respirable Crystalline Silica Competent Person Awareness	Volume 55 Severity 22 Exposure 98	54.1	$2,526
20	29 CFR 1910.269 Utility Electrical Safety	Volume 8 Severity 92 Exposure 73	53.7	$9,000
21	29 CFR 1910.252 Hot Work and Fire Watch Safety	Volume 23 Severity 61 Exposure 92	53.5	$5,121
22	29 CFR 1910.1030 Bloodborne Pathogens Training	Volume 67 Severity 8 Exposure 93	52.9	$1,719
23	29 CFR 1910.157 Portable Fire Extinguisher Safety	Volume 70 Severity 2 Exposure 96	52.6	$1,089
24	29 CFR 1926.1101 Asbestos Awareness (Class IV / 2-Hour)	Volume 45 Severity 28 Exposure 97	52.2	$2,542
25	29 CFR 1910.120 HAZWOPER 24-Hour Initial Training	Volume 11 Severity 73 Exposure 85	51.4	$5,987
26	29 CFR 1926.1060 Ladder Safety	Volume 27 Severity 44 Exposure 100	50.9	$3,396
27	29 CFR 1910.133 Eye & Face Protection and PPE Hazard Assessment Awareness	Volume 36 Severity 34 Exposure 94	49.8	$2,910
28	29 CFR 1910.106 Aviation Fuel-Handling HazCom Awareness	Volume 30 Severity 39 Exposure 96	49.5	$3,164
29	29 CFR 1910.1053 Respirable Crystalline Silica Competent Person Awareness	Volume 42 Severity 22 Exposure 96	48.6	$2,526
30	29 CFR 1910.1001 Asbestos Awareness (Class IV / 2-Hour)	Volume 14 Severity 28 Exposure 88	37.4	$2,542
31	29 CFR 1910.38 Emergency Action and Fire Prevention Plans	Volume 17 Severity 16 Exposure 94	35.7	$2,334
32	29 CFR 1910.39 Emergency Action and Fire Prevention Plans	Volume 2 Severity 16 Exposure 96	30	$2,334

How the score is built

The composite score blends three signals, each computed from public US Department of Labor enforcement records and percentile-ranked against every other standard we track:

Volume (40%) -- how often OSHA actually cites the standard, ranked on a log scale so one very high-volume standard doesn't flatten the rest of the field.
Severity (35%) -- the average initial penalty per citation, ranked the same way.
Exposure (25%) -- the share of citations landing on employers with under 250 staff. A standard concentrated here is a standard the businesses buying this training are actually exposed to, not one a large enterprise can staff around.

The 40/35/25 weighting is a disclosed editorial choice, not a statistical fit -- we say so plainly rather than implying a precision the data doesn't support. A standard needs at least 50 citations successfully matched to an inspection record before it is scored at all; below that, the sector and employer-size splits are too thin to mean anything; we leave it out rather than publish a number built on noise.

The formula is versioned. If it changes, the version changes with it, so a score you cite today stays traceable to the method that produced it. Full detail, including the pull date behind every input figure, is on our editorial and data standards page, and the underlying citation counts and penalties are on Most-cited OSHA standards.

Train against the standards that carry the most real risk

Every standard above links to the course that documents its training requirement, with a dated certificate anyone can verify.

See OSHA courses