Got an OSHA citation? Answer it before the 15-day clock runs out.

15 working days from the day you receive the Citation and Notification of Penalty. Working days are Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays. A Notice of Contest must be postmarked (or emailed to the Area Director) by the 15th working day, and any informal settlement must be signed by then. OSHA cannot extend this period, and requesting an informal conference does not pause it (29 CFR 1903.17, 1903.20).

A meeting with the OSHA Area Director, requested under 29 CFR 1903.20, to discuss the citation. It must take place within the 15-working-day contest period. The Area Director can change abatement dates, reclassify violations (for example serious to other-than-serious), and reduce or withdraw penalties or items when the evidence supports it (OSHA Field Operations Manual, Chapter 8). Many small employers settle here with an Informal Settlement Agreement.

OSHA's Field Operations Manual, Chapter 6 (revised July 14, 2025) sets the reduction factors: up to 70% for employers with 1–25 employees (30% for 26–100, 10% for 101–250), 20% for a clean five-year history or no prior inspection, 15% or 25% for good faith (an effective safety and health program), and 15% Quick-Fix for hazards corrected right away. They are applied one after another. If your proposed penalty is missing a factor you qualify for, ask the Area Director to apply it. Area Directors can also negotiate penalties based on abatement and safety-program improvements.

$16,550 per serious or other-than-serious violation and $165,514 per willful or repeated violation. There was no inflation adjustment for 2026, so the 2025 amounts remain in effect (OSHA memo, May 21, 2026). The policy minimum for a serious violation is $1,085.

Settling at an informal conference is usually faster and cheaper when you agree the hazard existed or have fixed it. Contesting sends the case to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and fits when you dispute the facts, the standard doesn't apply, or the item is willful or repeat. CitationFix recommends a strategy per item, but it is not legal advice; consider an attorney for willful, repeat, fatality-related or high-dollar citations.

A signed statement, due within 10 calendar days after each item's abatement date, that the violation has been corrected, with the date and method of abatement and a statement that affected employees were informed (29 CFR 1903.19). Willful, repeat, and some serious items also need documents such as photos, receipts or training records.

Yes. Post a copy, unedited, at or near each place a violation occurred (or where employees report) as soon as you receive it, and leave it up for 3 working days or until the violation is abated, whichever is later (29 CFR 1903.16). Contesting doesn't end the posting requirement.

Partly. 22 State Plans run their own OSHA programs with their own appeal rules. CitationFix detects your jurisdiction, builds the packet on the federal procedure, and flags what to check against your state citation's instructions. The federal penalty factors may not match your state's.

No and no. CitationFix is a document-preparation service. It computes penalty figures from OSHA's published Field Operations Manual and drafts documents from your answers. The Area Director decides every case, and no reduction is guaranteed.

$449 one time per citation. You get a free outline first: your deadline, jurisdiction, the penalty analysis and a recommended strategy per item. Pay only to unlock the full Word documents.