OSHA & regulation8 min read

Contest an OSHA citation: deadlines, abatement, settlement

To contest an OSHA citation you have 15 working days from receipt of the notice of proposed penalty. Nothing extends that: not an informal conference, not a call to the Area Director, not a negotiation that is nearly finished. Miss it and the citation and penalty become a final order of the Review Commission and, in the words of Section 10(a), "not subject to review by any court or agency."

That is the deadline everyone knows. The ones that cost money are the abatement deadlines that follow it. All of this is United States federal law; the Canadian position is set out at the end.

How long do you have to contest an OSHA citation?

1903.17(a) requires the notice of intention to contest to be in writing to the Area Director, postmarked within 15 working days of receipt of the notice of proposed penalty, and to state whether it is directed to the citation, the penalty, or both. Employees or their representatives have the same 15 working days under (b), but only to allege that the abatement period is unreasonable.