How Do I Check if My Employer Has Cal/OSHA Violations?

How do I check if my employer has Cal/OSHA violations?

Open the federal OSHA Establishment Search, enter your employer's name and state, and review any inspections it returns.

California appears in the tool because Cal/OSHA runs the state's workplace safety program under a federal State Plan agreement. Its inspections and citations go into the same federal database other states use.

Cal/OSHA's own site, dir.ca.gov/dosh, does not publish a separate public citation search of its own. The federal establishment search above is the practical public route to the same records.

This guide covers what the search actually shows and how to run it step by step. It also covers why a search can come up empty or point to the wrong company, and how a real citation can matter in a California workers' comp claim.

What does the OSHA Establishment Search actually show?

It returns a list of inspections for the employer name and state you search.

Each result shows whether the inspection is open or closed, and whether it produced a citation.

You can filter by establishment name, state, the OSHA or Cal/OSHA office, and zip code. You can also narrow by case status, violation status, and an inspection date range that reaches back to 1972. A separate search on the same tool works by inspection number if you already have one.

How do you search it, step by step?

Enter your employer's exact name, pick California, and open any inspection the results list to see its citations.

1. Open the OSHA Establishment Search.
2. Type your employer's name as it appears on your paycheck or the sign at the worksite, not just a parent company's brand name.
3. Select California, or narrow further by zip code if your employer has several locations.
4. Review the list of inspections, then open one to see its citations, the standard cited, and the proposed penalty.
5. Try a second search with a different version of the name if the first attempt returns nothing. Franchise locations and staffing arrangements are often filed under a different legal name than the one on a worksite sign.

Why might a search come up empty or show the wrong company?

Most employers have never been inspected, and some that have are listed under a name that does not match what you call them.

• Cal/OSHA inspects based on its own schedule, complaints, and referrals, not automatically after every injury. Most workplaces carry no inspection history at all.
• A franchise location, a staffing agency placement, or a subsidiary can be filed under a name different from the one on your paycheck or the worksite sign.
• A recent inspection may still be open, so any citation from it has not been finalized yet.

Does Cal/OSHA offer its own separate lookup?

Not as a standalone public search tool; its own site points workers toward complaint and consultation resources instead.

Cal/OSHA's homepage lists resources for filing a safety complaint, requesting free consultation, and reporting a workplace accident. It does not list a separate citation or inspection database of its own. Cal/OSHA inspections are entered into the same system federal OSHA uses for every State Plan state, so the federal establishment search above remains the practical way to see them.

How can a Cal/OSHA citation matter in your workers' comp claim?

A citation can be strong evidence for a serious and willful misconduct penalty, a separate 50 percent addition to your award.

Labor Code section 4553 lets an injured worker recover an extra 50 percent of the award when the employer's serious and willful misconduct caused the injury. The employer pays that extra amount directly, not the insurer. A Cal/OSHA citation the employer knew about and failed to fix is often central proof of that standard. Labor Code section 6400 is the underlying safety duty a citation usually documents. The workers' comp penalties guide and how to prove your employer knew about a hazard cover this evidence question in more depth. Finding a citation does not by itself decide a case; the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board still has to find the specific misconduct the statute requires.

What should you do next with a Cal/OSHA search result?

Save a copy of any inspection or citation you find, including the date, the standard cited, and whether the employer appealed it. If you believe a citation connects to your own injury and want help building a serious and willful claim, call (661) 273-1780 or use the contact form. For the coverage question many workers ask alongside this one, see how to check if your employer carries workers' comp insurance. Yazdchi Law reviews each workers' compensation matter individually before deciding whether to take it on.