# Cal/OSHA Enforcement in Los Angeles County

Inspectors opened 7,605 inspections in Los Angeles County from 2020 through 2025 and issued 15,549 citations — more inspections than any other California county, at a per-worker rate below the state's. Silica exposure is cited at 2.2x its statewide share, nursing care facilities at 2.1x, staffing agencies at 2.0x, and the garment trade at 2.9x.

Source: https://compliantca.com/guides/cal-osha-enforcement-los-angeles-county/
Published: 2026-09-05
Updated: 2026-09-05
Publisher: CompliantCA — not a law firm; this is not legal advice.

Cal/OSHA does not publish county-level enforcement statistics. This page is the Los Angeles County cut, computed from the federal enforcement data: the **7,605 inspections opened at county addresses from January 2020 through December 2025**, and the **15,549 citations** they produced, carrying $38.4 million in penalties as they currently stand.

Los Angeles County has more inspections than any other California county, yet per worker it is inspected less than the state as a whole: about **29 annual inspections per 100,000 covered workers against a state rate of roughly 40**, per [our county breakdown](/guides/cal-osha-inspections-by-county/). Our [Los Angeles city page](/guides/cal-osha-enforcement-los-angeles/) covers the 23% of these inspections at sites with a Los Angeles city address; this page adds Long Beach, City of Industry, Vernon, Santa Fe Springs, Torrance, and the rest of the county.

## What gets cited in Los Angeles County {#top-standards}

Average penalty is the penalty as it stands now, after any appeals and settlements, averaged across the row's citations — as retrieved August 30, 2026; these figures may change as cases settle.

| # | Standard | What it covers | Citations | Avg penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [§3203](https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/3203.html) | Injury and Illness Prevention Program | 1,998 | $1,480 |
| 2 | [§3395](https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/3395.html) | Heat Illness Prevention in Outdoor Places of Employment | 1,078 | $1,116 |
| 3 | [§1509](https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/1509.html) | IIPP (Construction Safety Orders) | 857 | $905 |
| 4 | [§342](https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/342.html) | Reporting Work-Connected Fatalities and Serious Injuries | 836 | $3,780 |
| 5 | [§3314](https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/3314.html) | Control of Hazardous Energy (cleaning and servicing machinery) | 492 | $5,211 |
| 6 | [§5204](https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/5204.html) | Occupational Exposures to Respirable Crystalline Silica | 440 | $3,120 |
| 7 | [§5199](https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/5199.html) | Aerosol Transmissible Diseases | 400 | $3,285 |
| 8 | [§5194](https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/5194.html) | Hazard Communication | 361 | $538 |
| 9 | [§1512](https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/1512.html) | Emergency Medical Services (construction) | 342 | $356 |
| 10 | [§5144](https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/5144.html) | Respiratory Protective Equipment | 337 | $716 |
| | All other standards | | 8,408 | |
| | **Total** | | **15,549** | **$2,471** |

The [§3203 IIPP](/guides/8-ccr-3203/) leads as it does everywhere, with heat and the construction IIPP behind it. Two rows run well above their statewide shares. **§5204, respirable crystalline silica, is #6 with 440 citations — 2.2x its statewide share** — the standard that governs cutting and polishing engineered stone and concrete. The county's cut-stone and nonmetallic mineral products industry, in the table below, also runs at double its statewide share. And **§5199, aerosol transmissible diseases, sits at 400 citations, 1.9x the state.** §342, the duty to report a serious injury or death, is #4 at 836 citations averaging $3,780 — consistent with the accident-heavy trigger mix below.

**Free IIPP template.** The §3203 program that leads this table — one section for each of the eight elements listed in §3203(a), plus the inspection and training record forms §3203(b) requires. PDF, no account.
[Request the template →](/request/iipp-template/?from=cal-osha-enforcement-los-angeles-county)
{: .callout }

## Construction leads; manufacturing, garments, stone, and nursing homes over-index {#industries}

Construction accounts for 4,034 citations — 26% of the county's total, the same share as statewide. What sets the county apart is manufacturing: sectors 31 and 32 (food, apparel, chemicals, stone, and plastics) take 9% and 10% of citations against 6% and 7% statewide. The ten most cited industry groups:

| # | Industry group (NAICS) | Citations | Share of Los Angeles County citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Residential building construction (2361) | 1,027 | 6.6% |
| 2 | Nonresidential building construction (2362) | 894 | 5.7% |
| 3 | Foundation and building-exterior contractors (2381) | 835 | 5.4% |
| 4 | Automotive repair and maintenance (8111) | 743 | 4.8% |
| 5 | Other nonmetallic mineral products — cut stone, concrete, gypsum (3279) | 600 | 3.9% |
| 6 | Building equipment contractors — plumbing, HVAC, electrical (2382) | 396 | 2.5% |
| 7 | Services to buildings and dwellings — janitorial and landscaping (5617) | 393 | 2.5% |
| 8 | Employment services — staffing agencies (5613) | 388 | 2.5% |
| 9 | Building finishing contractors (2383) | 373 | 2.4% |
| 10 | Nursing care facilities (6231) | 362 | 2.3% |

Three groups on this list run at roughly double their statewide share: **cut stone and nonmetallic mineral products (600 citations, 2.0x)**, **nursing care facilities (362, 2.1x)**, and **staffing agencies (388, 2.0x)**. Just outside the top ten, **cut-and-sew apparel drew 219 citations, 2.9x its statewide share** — the garment trade the [Los Angeles city page](/guides/cal-osha-enforcement-los-angeles/) found dominating the city's data, and aerospace parts manufacturing 100 citations at 2.2x. Nonresidential building construction (894, 1.5x) is the one construction group clearly above the state.

## Accidents and fatalities run above the state {#triggers}

Share of the 7,605 county inspections opened 2020–2025, by trigger, against the statewide mix:

| Trigger | Los Angeles County | Statewide |
|---|---|---|
| Accident investigation | 38% | 31% |
| Planned (programmed) | 17% | 21% |
| Complaint | 21% | 24% |
| Fatality/catastrophe | 8% | 5% |
| Referral | 4% | 8% |
| Related and follow-up | 11% | 11% |

**38% of the county's inspections began as accident investigations, against 31% statewide, and 8% followed a fatality or catastrophe against 5%.** Complaints and planned inspections both run a few points under the state, and referrals run at 4% against the statewide 8%.

## Methodology {#methodology}

CompliantCA computed this analysis from the [U.S. Department of Labor enforcement dataset](https://dataportal.dol.gov/) (the OSHA Information System), which includes Cal/OSHA because California operates an OSHA-approved State Plan and includes federal OSHA's California activity; retrieved August 30, 2026. Scope: inspections opened January 2020 through December 2025 at Los Angeles County sites, and citation line items issued in the same window on those inspections, excluding citation records deleted in the source data.

Each inspection is assigned to the county by its five-digit site zip via the [Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA-to-county relationship file](https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/relationship-files.html), assigning each zip to the county holding the largest share of its land area, with the site city as fallback — the same method as [our county breakdown](/guides/cal-osha-inspections-by-county/), whose Los Angeles row these totals match. City counts use the city on the inspected site's address, which is the postal city rather than the municipal boundary. Federal OSHA's own inspections at county addresses — 125 of the 7,605 — are included, matching our other city and region pages, and identified by the inspecting office on the record. Citations are grouped to the base section, so §3203(a) and §3203(a)(4) count together; industry groupings use the NAICS code on the inspection record; trigger shares use the inspection-type code, with the statewide column computed from all California inspections the same way. "Times the statewide share" compares an industry's or standard's share of the county's citations with its share of all California citations in the window. The per-worker rate divides the six-year inspection count by six and by the county's average covered employment 2020–2025 from the [BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages](https://data.bls.gov/cew/apps/data_views/data_views.htm), times 100,000; 2025 employment is preliminary. Penalty figures are the penalty as it stands now, after any appeals and settlements (the dataset's "current penalty"), and change as cases settle. Cal/OSHA's own statewide summaries are at [DIR's citation statistics pages](https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/Citation-statistics.html).

A citation count says what inspectors cited, not what any employer must do — the standards themselves say that.

## Frequently asked questions

### How many Cal/OSHA inspections happen in Los Angeles County?

7,605 inspections were opened at Los Angeles County addresses from 2020 through 2025, per federal enforcement data — the most of any California county. Per worker that is about 29 annual inspections per 100,000 covered workers, below the state's roughly 40. Sites with a Los Angeles city address account for 23% of them; Long Beach, City of Industry, Vernon, Santa Fe Springs, and Torrance lead the rest.

### What gets cited most in Los Angeles County?

§3203, the Injury and Illness Prevention Program, leads with 1,998 of the county's 15,549 citations issued 2020 through 2025. §3395 heat illness prevention is second at 1,078 and §1509, the construction IIPP, third at 857. The standard most out of proportion to the state is §5204, respirable crystalline silica, at 440 citations — 2.2x its statewide share.

### Which industries get cited most in Los Angeles County?

Construction accounts for 26% of the county's citations, matching the state. The county's distinct concentrations are in manufacturing and care: cut stone and other nonmetallic mineral products (600 citations, 2.0x the statewide share), nursing care facilities (362, 2.1x), staffing agencies (388, 2.0x), and cut-and-sew apparel (219 citations, 2.9x).

### What triggers Cal/OSHA inspections in Los Angeles County?

Accident investigations were 38% of the county's inspections opened 2020 through 2025, against 31% statewide, and fatality or catastrophe investigations another 8% against 5%. Complaints ran at 21%, planned inspections at 17%, and referrals at 4%.