OSHA Inspection and Citation Help: What to Do Before and After Citations Arrive

Just received an OSHA citation? You have 15 working days to respond, and the choices you make in that window affect your penalties, your abatement deadlines, and your risk of repeat violations for years. Berg helps you understand the citation, respond on time, fix and document every item, and keep it from happening again.

Is an OSHA Inspector at Your Facility Right Now?

Stay calm and professional. A few general guidelines:

• Ask for credentials and the reason for the visit, such as a complaint, a referral, an injury report, or a scheduled inspection.
• Bring in your designated safety contact. Asking for a short wait so that person can be there is common.
• Keep the inspection focused on its stated scope, and walk the inspector by the most direct route.
• Take your own notes and photos of everything the inspector documents.
• Answer questions truthfully without guessing or speculating.
• Fix simple hazards on the spot when you can, and document the correction.

Call 888-784-1405 and we can talk you through the inspection and what comes next.

Inspected by OSHA, But No Citations Yet? Don’t Wait.

OSHA has up to six months after an inspection to issue citations. Many companies hear nothing for weeks, assume they’re in the clear, and move on. Then the citation arrives with a 15-working-day deadline and very little time to prepare.

The weeks after an inspection are the best time to act:

• Write down everything from the closing conference: the hazards the inspector pointed out, the standards mentioned, and any documents requested.
• Start correcting hazards now, and document every fix with photos, dates, training records, and updated programs. Corrections made early show good faith and give you a stronger position if citations are issued.
• Pull your written programs, training records, and injury logs so they’re ready for an informal conference.
• Make sure the citation won’t get lost. Citations usually come by certified mail. Tell whoever handles your mail to route anything from the U.S. Department of Labor or OSHA to you the same day, and confirm OSHA has the right address.

We can review what happened during the inspection, help you fix and document the likely issues, and have you ready before the citation arrives. Call 888-784-1405.

Your OSHA Citation Deadlines at a Glance

When	What you need to do
When the citation arrives	Note the date you received it. Your 15-working-day clock starts that day.
Right away	Post a copy of the citation at or near each place a violation occurred, for 3 working days or until the hazard is corrected, whichever is longer.
Within 15 working days	Hold an informal conference and settle, pay, or file a written notice of contest with the OSHA Area Director. If you do nothing, the citation and penalties become a final order.
By each abatement date	Correct every item listed in the citation, including physical hazards and program citations, such as missing or incomplete written programs, training, or recordkeeping.

Requesting an informal conference does not extend the 15-working-day deadline to contest, so it’s important to move quickly.

Missed the Letter or the Deadline?

It happens more often than you’d think: the certified letter sits at the front desk, goes to the wrong address, or lands with someone who’s out of the office. If the 15 working days have passed without a response, the citation and penalties generally become final, and you lose most of your options to negotiate. Abatement is still required, and failure-to-abate penalties can add up daily.

If you’re in this situation, call 888-784-1405 right away. We’ll help you abate and document everything quickly.

Your Options After an OSHA Citation

1. Accept the citation and abate

You pay the penalty and correct each item by its abatement date. This can make sense for minor citations, but accepting a violation also counts toward possible repeat violations for the next five years.

2. Request an informal conference and settle

You meet with the OSHA Area Director to discuss the citations, share what you’ve already corrected, and negotiate. Informal settlements can reduce penalties, reclassify violations, or allow more time to abate. Coming prepared, with corrective actions documented, makes a real difference.

3. Formally contest

You file a written notice of contest within 15 working days, and the case goes to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Berg supports you on the technical side: the hazards, the standards, and the corrective actions. Learn more in our post on whether you should contest OSHA citations.

OSHA Citation Types and Penalties

Violation type	Maximum penalty (2026)
Other-than-serious	Up to $16,550 per violation
Serious	Up to $16,550 per violation
Willful or repeat	Up to $165,514 per violation
Failure to abate	Up to $16,550 per day beyond the abatement date

Source: OSHA penalty amounts. OSHA can reduce proposed penalties based on company size, good faith, and history, and a well-prepared informal conference often lowers them further.

I Know What It’s Like to Get That Letter

“Before I started Berg, I owned a small business. We had a surprise OSHA inspection, and we failed. I’ll never forget writing that check to the U.S. Department of Treasury. I wasn’t angry at OSHA. I was embarrassed that I hadn’t kept up, and even more than that, I was ashamed that I’d put my own employees at risk without realizing it.

Since then, I’ve watched the same thing happen to good, well-run companies: failed inspections at plants that believed they were compliant, citations that became public, lost customers, and penalties that kept growing because the same problems came back.

That’s why I founded Berg Compliance Solutions in 2013. If you’ve just received a citation, you don’t have to figure it out alone. We’ll help you understand it, respond on time, and fix what led to it, so it doesn’t happen again.”

Russell Carr, Founder and CEO, Berg Compliance Solutions

How Berg Helps After an OSHA Citation

1. Review the citation with you. We go through every item, the standards cited, the abatement dates, and your deadlines, and explain your options in plain language.
2. Prepare for the informal conference. We help you organize your corrective actions and supporting documents so you walk in ready.
3. Fix the hazards and document the fixes. Written programs, lockout/tagout procedures, machine guarding, training, and records, with the photos and paperwork OSHA expects.
4. Complete abatement certification. We help you submit it on time and keep copies for your records.
5. Prevent the next citation. We rebuild the programs behind the violations, because a repeat citation within five years can carry a penalty ten times larger.

Why Fast Action Matters

A citation is about more than one penalty. Every citation becomes part of OSHA’s public online records, and OSHA often issues news releases naming the company. That record will follow you with customers and job applicants. Many customers also ask about OSHA history before awarding contracts. Read more about the reputation cost of a public OSHA citation.

What Our Clients Say

“We hired Berg Compliance Solutions in June of 2017 to help us resolve OSHA citations and get our company to full OSHA compliance. Since then Berg has worked hard to close out our OSHA citations, write manuals, LOTO procedures, hazard assessments, provide detailed reports of physical changes needed to our equipment as well as conducted several required onsite training classes.”

Robert Kager, Owner, Kager Industries

“Berg Compliance Solutions went ‘over and above’ in helping us through a recent OSHA enforcement investigation. Their support was great and instrumental in allowing us to prevent many citations, eliminate others, and greatly reduce our fines.”

Ben Meadley, Business Consultant to a Berg client

“They train our employees, conduct routine inspections and provide very detailed reports that help us identify, understand and correct hazards, as well as helping implement and manage all of our other OSHA compliance requirements. They’ve also been very helpful in managing OSHA enforcement issues.”

Darrell Smith, Owner, Oakbrook Builders, Inc.

OSHA Citation Help Across Texas

We help manufacturers and contractors respond to OSHA citations throughout Texas, including Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Waco. Dealing with a TCEQ notice of violation instead? See our environmental compliance services.

OSHA Citation FAQs

We were inspected but haven’t received citations. What should we do?

Start correcting and documenting the hazards discussed during the inspection now, gather your written programs and records, and watch for certified mail from OSHA. OSHA can issue citations up to six months after a violation, so silence doesn’t mean you’re in the clear.

What if we missed the 15-working-day deadline?

The citation generally becomes a final order. Correct the hazards and certify abatement right away to avoid failure-to-abate penalties.

How long do I have to respond to an OSHA citation?

You have 15 working days from the day you receive the citation to request an informal conference and settle, pay, or file a written notice of contest. If you don’t act within that window, the citation and proposed penalties become a final order.

Does an informal conference extend the deadline?

No. Requesting or holding an informal conference does not extend the 15-working-day deadline to file a notice of contest, so the conference needs to happen within that window.

Can OSHA penalties be reduced?

Often, yes. OSHA considers company size, good faith, and violation history when proposing penalties, and informal settlements can reduce penalties, reclassify violations, or extend abatement dates. Showing that hazards have already been corrected and documented helps.

Should I contest an OSHA citation?

It depends on the facts, the penalty, and the risk of future repeat violations. Many citations are resolved through an informal settlement. Berg can help you understand each citation and support the technical and corrective action side.

Do I have to post the OSHA citation?

Yes. Post a copy of the citation at or near each place where a violation occurred, where employees can see it, for 3 working days or until the violation is corrected, whichever is longer.

What is abatement certification?

After correcting each cited hazard, you must certify to OSHA that it was fixed, within 10 calendar days after the abatement date. Some violations also require documents such as photos, invoices, or training records.

How long does OSHA have to issue a citation?

OSHA must issue a citation within six months of the violation occurring. In practice, citations often arrive weeks or a few months after an inspection.

What is a repeat violation?

A repeat violation is a citation for the same or a substantially similar hazard within five years of a previous citation becoming final. Repeat penalties can reach $165,514 per violation, which is why fixing the underlying program matters as much as fixing the hazard.

Get Help With Your OSHA Citation

Don’t let the deadline run out. Call 888-784-1405 or request help online, and we’ll review your citation with you, explain your options, and help you respond on time.

Disclaimer: The information on this page is general guidance about the OSHA inspection and citation process. It is not legal advice. Berg Compliance Solutions is a safety and environmental consulting firm, not a law firm, and using this page or contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every inspection and citation is different, and deadlines, penalty amounts, and procedures can change. Penalty figures reflect OSHA’s published maximums for 2026. Client results described on this page are not a guarantee of similar outcomes. For legal questions, including whether to contest a citation, consult a qualified attorney.

Request Help With Your OSHA Citation

Tell us a little about your citation and deadline, and we’ll call you within 2 business hours. Prefer to talk now? Call 888-784-1405.