Imminent Danger Situations

An imminent danger is a hazard that could kill or seriously injure someone right now, or before it could be fixed through the normal OSHA process. It’s OSHA’s top inspection priority, and it’s the situation where you have the strongest right to refuse the work.

• Construction
• General Industry
• All workers

What counts as imminent danger

Under Section 13 of the OSH Act, it’s a condition or practice where a danger exists that could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical harm either immediately or before the danger could be removed through regular enforcement. Health hazards count too, if exposure could cause serious harm or shorten life.

Examples

• Workers in a deep trench with no shoring, sloping or trench box, or with cracks opening in the walls
• Roofers or ironworkers at height with no guardrail, net or harness
• Work near energized overhead power lines without the required clearance
• A confined space entry with no air testing, or with a gas alarm going off
• A crane lifting a load over workers, or an overloaded crane
• A scaffold that is leaning, missing ties or overloaded
• Machines being cleared or repaired while they can still start up
• Strong smell of gas, or a fire or explosion hazard with ignition sources nearby

What to do right away

1. Get yourself and others out of the danger if you can do it safely. Don’t become a second victim; never jump into a collapsed trench or a confined space to rescue someone.
2. Warn others and stop the work if you have stop-work authority. See Stop-Work Authority.
3. Tell your supervisor and ask for the hazard to be fixed.
4. If someone is hurt, call 911.
5. If the hazard isn’t fixed, call OSHA at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) and say it’s an imminent danger, or call your state plan office.

Your right to refuse

You can refuse to do the work if all of these are true:

• You believe in good faith that there’s an imminent danger of death or serious injury
• A reasonable person in your position would agree
• You asked your employer to fix it, and they didn’t (if there was a chance to ask)
• There isn’t time to get it fixed through an OSHA inspection

Stay on the site unless you’re told to leave, offer to do other safe work, and write down what happened. See Your Rights as a Worker.

What OSHA does

• Imminent danger reports get the fastest response, often an inspection within a day.
• The inspector asks the employer to remove workers from the danger voluntarily. Most employers do.
• OSHA can’t shut a site down by itself. If the employer refuses, OSHA can go to a federal court for an order to stop the work.
• If OSHA doesn’t act on an imminent danger, the affected workers can ask a federal court to order it to act.

Last updated: October 2, 2026