What Happens After an OSHA Citation: Timeline, Options, and Financial Impact

You received an OSHA citation. The envelope from the Department of Labor is open, the numbers are real, and the deadlines are ticking. What happens next depends entirely on what you do in the next 15 working days — and the strength of the documentation you can produce. You have options, but every one of them works better with organized records behind it.

This guide walks through the full post-citation process: what the citation package contains, the three paths available to you, how each option works in practice, and why documentation is the single biggest factor in determining your financial outcome.

The Citation Package: What You Actually Receive

When OSHA issues a citation, you receive a package delivered by certified mail. This is not a single document — it is a set of materials that together define your legal obligations and financial exposure. Understanding each component is essential before deciding how to respond.

The citation package typically includes:

• The citation itself — A detailed description of each alleged violation, referencing the specific OSHA standard (by CFR number) that was violated. Each violation is classified by type: serious, other-than-serious, willful, or repeat. The classification determines the penalty range.
• The proposed penalty — A dollar amount for each cited violation. These are not final amounts — they are proposed penalties that can be negotiated or contested. For serious violations, penalties can reach $16,550 per violation. Willful or repeat violations can reach $165,514 each.
• Abatement dates — Each citation includes a deadline by which you must correct the hazard. Abatement dates are typically 30 days from the citation date but can vary based on the complexity of the required correction. Failure to abate by the deadline triggers additional penalties of up to $16,550 per day.
• Posting requirements — You are legally required to post a copy of the citation (or a summary) at or near the location of the violation for three working days or until the hazard is abated, whichever is longer. Failure to post is itself a citable violation.
• Contest rights notice — A document explaining your right to contest the citation and the 15-working-day deadline for doing so. This notice describes the informal conference option and the formal contest process.

Read every component carefully. The violation descriptions tell you exactly what OSHA believes you did wrong and under which standard. The penalty amounts tell you your financial exposure. The abatement dates tell you your correction deadlines. Together, these define the starting point for every decision that follows.

The 15-Working-Day Window: Your Critical Deadline

From the date you receive the citation — not the date it was issued — you have exactly 15 working days to decide how to respond. This is the most consequential deadline in the entire process. Missing it generally waives your right to contest the citation, converts the proposed penalty into a final order, and locks in the abatement requirements as mandatory obligations.

Fifteen working days is approximately three calendar weeks. It sounds like enough time, but it compresses quickly when you factor in gathering documentation, consulting with advisors, and evaluating your options. Contractors who are not organized when the citation arrives often find themselves making rushed decisions with incomplete information.

Within this 15-day window, you have three options:

1. Accept the citation — Pay the proposed penalty, abate the hazards by the deadlines, and move on.
2. Request an informal conference — Meet with the OSHA Area Director to discuss and negotiate the citation, penalties, and abatement dates.
3. File a formal notice of contest — Challenge the citation before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), initiating a legal proceeding.

These options are not mutually exclusive in terms of timing. You can request an informal conference and, if the outcome is not satisfactory, still file a formal contest — as long as you remain within the 15-day window. However, you cannot extend the 15-day period by requesting an informal conference. The clock keeps running.

Option 1: Accept the Citation

Accepting the citation means you agree with the violations as described, pay the proposed penalties, and commit to correcting the hazards by the abatement dates. This is the simplest path, and in some cases, it is the right one.

Accepting makes sense when:

• The violation is accurately described and the penalty amount is relatively low
• The hazard has already been corrected
• The cost of contesting (legal fees, management time, distraction) exceeds the penalty
• You want to preserve a cooperative relationship with the local OSHA office

Accepting does not make sense when:

• The violation is inaccurately described or the wrong standard was cited — accepting an inaccurate citation creates a record that can be used against you in future inspections
• The citation is classified as willful or repeat when you believe it should be serious — the classification difference carries major financial and reputational consequences
• The penalty is substantial and you have documentation that supports a reduction — even a 30% reduction on a $16,550 violation saves nearly $5,000
• The abatement timeline is unrealistic for the required correction — accepting locks you into a deadline that, if missed, triggers daily failure-to-abate penalties

One critical detail: accepting a citation creates a permanent record in OSHA's inspection database. If you receive a substantially similar citation within the next five years, the earlier acceptance can be the basis for a repeat violation classification — which carries penalties up to $165,514. This is why accepting inaccurate citations or overly broad violation descriptions is risky even when the immediate penalty seems manageable.

Option 2: The Informal Conference

The informal conference is the most commonly used and often the most effective option for reducing your financial exposure. It is a meeting — typically in person or by phone — with the OSHA Area Director or their designee to discuss the citation.

Despite the name, the informal conference is a negotiation. The Area Director has discretion to modify violations, reduce penalties, adjust abatement dates, and reclassify citation types. The outcome depends almost entirely on what you bring to the table.

How the Informal Conference Works

You request the conference by contacting the OSHA Area Office listed on the citation. The meeting is typically scheduled within a few days. There is no formal legal procedure — no court reporter, no rules of evidence, no judge. It is a direct conversation between you (and your representative, if you choose to bring one) and the Area Director.

During the conference, you can:

• Present documentation that demonstrates compliance or mitigating factors
• Challenge the accuracy of specific violation descriptions
• Request penalty reductions based on good faith, size, or inspection history
• Negotiate abatement dates that reflect realistic correction timelines
• Discuss reclassification of violation types (e.g., from willful to serious)
• Provide evidence of corrective actions already taken

What Documentation to Bring

The informal conference is where documentation pays off directly. Contractors who arrive with organized records consistently achieve better outcomes than those who arrive with explanations alone.

Bring everything relevant to the cited conditions:

• Training records — Signed attendance sheets, training content, instructor qualifications, and dates for any training related to the cited standard
• Daily site logs — Consistent daily documentation showing ongoing hazard identification and safety management
• Written safety programs — Your fall protection plan, hazard communication program, or other written programs relevant to the citation
• Corrective action records — Documentation showing you identified and corrected similar hazards in the past, demonstrating a pattern of responsiveness
• Equipment inspection records — Logs showing regular inspection of scaffolds, trenches, PPE, fire extinguishers, or other equipment related to the citation
• Photographic evidence — Timestamped photos showing conditions before, during, or after the inspection that provide context the inspector may not have captured

Realistic Penalty Reductions

Penalty reductions of 30-60% are common in informal conferences when the employer presents credible documentation. These reductions come from a combination of the standard adjustment factors (good faith, size, history) and the Area Director's discretion to modify penalties based on the circumstances presented.

On a $16,550 serious violation, a 40% reduction saves $6,620. On a multi-citation inspection totaling $50,000 in proposed penalties, the same reduction saves $20,000. The informal conference is, dollar for dollar, one of the highest-return activities a contractor can undertake after receiving a citation.

Contractors without organized documentation typically achieve much smaller reductions — often limited to the automatic size adjustment alone. The difference between a 15% reduction and a 50% reduction is the difference between documentation and assertion.

Option 3: Formal Contest Before the Review Commission

If you believe the citation is fundamentally wrong — the violation did not occur, the standard does not apply, or the classification is unjustified — you can file a formal notice of contest. This initiates a legal proceeding before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), an independent federal agency separate from OSHA.

How the Formal Contest Process Works

Filing a notice of contest is straightforward: submit a written statement to the OSHA Area Director within the 15-working-day window indicating that you contest the citation, the penalty, the abatement date, or all three. OSHA then forwards the case to OSHRC.

The Review Commission process follows this general timeline:

1. Case assignment — The case is assigned to an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). This typically takes several weeks.
2. Discovery — Both sides exchange documents and evidence. This phase can last several months.
3. Settlement negotiations — The majority of contested cases settle before trial. The ALJ often encourages settlement during this phase.
4. Hearing — If no settlement is reached, the case goes to a hearing before the ALJ. Both sides present evidence and testimony. This is a formal legal proceeding with rules of evidence.
5. Decision — The ALJ issues a written decision affirming, modifying, or vacating the citation. Either party can appeal to the full Review Commission.

Timeline and Costs

The formal contest process is slow and expensive. From filing to resolution typically takes 12-24 months. Legal representation is strongly recommended, and attorney fees for OSHRC proceedings generally range from $5,000 to $25,000 or more depending on complexity. Expert witnesses, if needed, add additional costs.

The formal contest makes financial sense primarily in cases involving high-penalty citations (willful or repeat violations), citations that could affect your ability to bid on future work, or situations where the citation is factually wrong and accepting it would create a damaging precedent in your OSHA history.

For most single serious violations, the informal conference provides a faster and more cost-effective path to penalty reduction. Reserve the formal contest for cases where the stakes justify the investment.

How Documentation Determines Your Outcome

Across all three options — acceptance, informal conference, and formal contest — the quality of your documentation is the primary variable that determines your financial outcome. This is not theory. It is the consistent pattern observed in OSHA penalty negotiations and Review Commission proceedings.

Consider these specific scenarios:

Scenario 1: Fall protection citation with training records. A contractor receives a serious citation for inadequate fall protection on a residential framing project. During the informal conference, the contractor produces signed training records showing all affected employees completed fall protection training within the past 90 days, daily logs showing regular guardrail inspections, and a written fall protection plan. The Area Director reduces the penalty by 50%, noting the employer's demonstrated good faith commitment to safety.

Scenario 2: The same citation without training records. A different contractor receives an identical citation. This contractor trained their crew verbally but has no signed records. Their daily logs are inconsistent — some days documented, most not. They have no written fall protection plan. At the informal conference, the contractor explains that they do train their workers. The Area Director applies only the size reduction (15%) because there is no documented evidence to support a good faith reduction.

The difference between these two outcomes is not safety performance — both contractors may have been equally committed to protecting their workers. The difference is documentation. One contractor could prove their commitment. The other could only assert it.

Scenario 3: Corrective action documentation prevents a willful classification. A contractor is cited for a trenching violation — an unprotected excavation over five feet deep. The inspector recommends a willful violation based on the severity of the hazard. At the informal conference, the contractor produces a corrective action log showing that when a similar condition was identified two months earlier, they immediately installed shoring and documented the correction. This evidence of responsive action contradicts the "intentional disregard" element required for a willful classification. The violation is reclassified from willful ($165,514 maximum) to serious ($16,550 maximum) — a difference that can exceed $100,000.

The Financial Math: Penalties vs. Documentation

The financial case for organized documentation becomes stark when you compare the cost of penalties against the cost of maintaining proper records.

A single serious violation at maximum penalty costs $16,550. A typical construction inspection that results in citations averages three to five violations. Even at moderate severity, a multi-violation citation package frequently totals $25,000-$50,000 in proposed penalties.

Now consider the reduction potential. An employer who can demonstrate good faith through organized documentation qualifies for up to 25% reduction on that factor alone. Combined with size and history adjustments, total reductions of 40-60% are achievable. On a $40,000 citation package, that represents $16,000-$24,000 in savings.

Compare that to the cost of implementing a structured documentation system. Templates for daily logs, training records, incident reports, and corrective actions cost a fraction of a single violation. The time investment for a site supervisor to complete a daily log is 10-15 minutes. The time investment to organize training records is minimal when the structure is already in place.

The math becomes even more compelling when you factor in the repeat violation risk. Accepting a citation today without contesting it creates a record. If a substantially similar condition is cited within five years, the repeat classification raises the maximum penalty from $16,550 to $165,514 — a 10x increase. Documentation that helps you resolve the first citation accurately and favorably reduces your long-term exposure across future inspections.

There is also the indirect cost calculation. OSHA citations are public records, accessible through OSHA's online inspection database. General contractors, project owners, and government agencies routinely check this database when evaluating subcontractor qualifications. A history of citations — particularly willful or repeat violations — can disqualify you from bidding on projects. The revenue impact of lost work often dwarfs the penalty amounts themselves.

The Best Time to Prepare Was Before the Inspection

Every section of this guide points to the same conclusion: the contractors who achieve the best outcomes after receiving an OSHA citation are the ones who built their documentation systems before the inspection happened. They did not scramble to compile records during the 15-day window. They did not arrive at the informal conference with explanations instead of evidence. They had the records ready because they had been creating them all along.

Structured daily logs. Signed training records. Written safety programs. Corrective action documentation. Equipment inspection forms. Pre-inspection checklists. These are not bureaucratic overhead — they are financial protection. Every document you create today is a tool you can deploy during an informal conference, a formal contest, or a penalty negotiation tomorrow.

If you are reading this after receiving a citation, your immediate priority is clear: organize everything you have, identify your strongest documentation, and decide whether to accept, negotiate, or contest within the 15-day window. Bring every relevant record to the informal conference. Let your documentation make the case for reduction.

If you are reading this before a citation — before an inspection has even occurred — you are in the strongest possible position. You have time to build the documentation foundation that protects you across every scenario described above. The cost of preparation is a fraction of the cost of a single citation. The return on documentation is measured in penalty reductions, favorable reclassifications, and inspection outcomes that could have gone very differently without organized records.

The best time to prepare was before the inspection. The second best time is now.