Harbor Freight Tools safety record at a glance
Harbor Freight Tools has been the subject of 23 Cal/OSHA inspections in California since 2000, opened between Mar 23, 2004 and Sep 16, 2026. 15 of them were complaint inspections. 14 of them produced citations, 56 in all: 0 serious. Inspectors proposed $34,760 in penalties; after appeals and settlements the current total is $25,770. The largest single penalty, $6,430, came from an inspection opened Apr 6, 2015 in San Diego. That places the employer at #4,483 of 122,854 California employers in the database by penalties. The same employer has 1 WARN layoff notice on file with the EDD.
Industry as coded by the inspecting office: Retail Trade; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services. Worksites in Turlock, Camarillo, San Diego, Citrus Heights, Sacramento, Yuba City, Lake Forest, Pittsburg.
Every inspection, newest first
Click a date for the citations in that inspection.
| Opened | City | Why | Result | Proposed | Penalty | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 2026 | Turlock | Complaint | open, no citations yet | 0 | 0 | open |
| May 30, 2025 | Camarillo | Accident | 1 citation | $5,000 | $3,000 | May 1, 2026 |
| Sep 27, 2024 | San Diego | Planned | 2 citations | $1,215 | $1,215 | Dec 30, 2024 |
| Jan 3, 2024 | Citrus Heights | Planned | 6 citations | $3,180 | $2,250 | Aug 6, 2024 |
| Dec 19, 2023 | Sacramento | Planned | 2 citations | $370 | $370 | Jul 1, 2024 |
| Dec 11, 2023 | Yuba City | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Jan 30, 2024 |
| Aug 5, 2020 | Lake Forest | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Aug 5, 2020 |
| May 10, 2018 | Pittsburg | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | May 14, 2018 |
| Oct 20, 2016 | Fresno | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Mar 2, 2017 |
| Dec 23, 2015 | Modesto | Complaint | 2 citations | $1,050 | $1,050 | Feb 9, 2016 |
| Apr 6, 2015 | San Diego | Accident | 4 citations | $6,730 | $6,430 | May 11, 2018 |
| Sep 18, 2014 | Oceanside | Accident | no citations | 0 | 0 | Oct 7, 2014 |
| Apr 16, 2014 | Fresno | Complaint | 4 citations | $740 | $740 | Mar 27, 2015 |
| Apr 9, 2014 | Hayward | Unprogrammed related | 6 citations | $3,370 | $935 | Jun 17, 2014 |
| Feb 26, 2014 | Sacramento | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Apr 17, 2014 |
| Jul 23, 2013 | Sacramento | Complaint | 1 citation | $280 | $280 | Sep 26, 2013 |
| Aug 29, 2012 | Fresno | Complaint | 6 citations | $1,490 | $1,490 | Mar 4, 2013 |
| Aug 21, 2012 | Visalia | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Aug 22, 2012 |
| Jul 2, 2012 | El Cajon | Complaint | 15 citations | $7,665 | $4,860 | Nov 5, 2012 |
| Apr 15, 2008 | Lomita | Follow-up | no citations | 0 | 0 | Apr 15, 2008 |
| Apr 9, 2007 | Redding | Complaint | 2 citations | $750 | $750 | Oct 24, 2007 |
| Mar 2, 2005 | Vallejo | Complaint | 2 citations | $1,800 | $1,800 | Mar 8, 2006 |
| Mar 23, 2004 | Lomita | Complaint | 3 citations | $1,120 | $600 | Sep 13, 2010 |
Also recorded as: Harbor Freight Tools USA, Inc; Harbor Freight Tools USA, Inc.; Harbor Freight Tools, Inc; Harbor Freight Tools, LLC.
The rules this employer was cited under
- 8 CCR 3272: 5 citations, $1,945
- 8 CCR 3241, Live loads: 3 citations, $1,460
- 8 CCR 3380, Personal protective equipment: 3 citations, $1,365
- 8 CCR 3382: 3 citations, $1,160
- 8 CCR 3203, Injury and Illness Prevention Program: 3 citations, $1,060
- 8 CCR 6151, Portable fire extinguishers: 3 citations, $520
- 8 CCR 2340.16, Electrical work space: 3 citations, $520
- 8 CCR 342, Reporting serious injuries and deaths: 2 citations, $8,000
Accidents investigated
Local pages: San Diego employment lawyer.
How to read this record
Each row is one inspection by Cal/OSHA (or, rarely, federal OSHA) of one worksite. Why is the reason it was opened. Proposed is the penalty the inspector assessed; penalty is the current figure after any appeal or settlement. "Serious" means a realistic possibility of death or serious harm; "willful" and "repeat" carry penalties up to $162,851 each.
Citations document that the employer was told, in writing, what the rule required and when. That knowledge is often the center of a retaliation case: a worker who complained about the hazard an inspector later cited, and was then fired or cut, has a Labor Code 6310 claim, with lost wages and attorney's fees.
Full explainer: how to read a Cal/OSHA record.
If you work, or worked, at Harbor Freight Tools
Write down what you reported, to whom and when, and what changed afterward: shifts, pay, duties, write-ups. Request the inspection file from the Cal/OSHA district office using the activity number on the inspection page. An injury goes through workers' compensation; a firing, demotion or threat after a safety complaint or injury report is an employment claim with a one-year deadline at the Labor Commissioner (Labor Code 6310) and a longer one in court. Free, confidential review: (800) 371-3088 or send what you have.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement data, California inspections. Record last checked Nov 1, 2026. Back to the safety tracker.
About this data: Records come from the U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA enforcement datasets (inspection, violation, accident and accident injury tables), which carry Cal/OSHA's state-plan inspections alongside federal ones. We load every inspection of a California worksite opened since January 1, 2000 and refresh it weekly. Employer names, addresses and industry codes are as the inspecting office recorded them; similar names are grouped where they clearly refer to the same employer. A citation can be reduced, vacated or withdrawn on appeal, and an inspection can stay open for months, so a record can change. Penalties shown as "current" reflect the latest status in the federal file. This page is public information about the employer's regulatory record, not legal advice and not a statement that any person was harmed or any law broken beyond what the record states.