What an OSHA citation costs in 2026, and the 15-day clock most people miss
Most conversations about OSHA penalties stop at the headline number. The number matters, but the deadline matters more, because the deadline is the part you can still do something about.
The numbers, federal OSHA, 2026
- Up to $16,550 per serious or other-than-serious violation
- Up to $165,514 for a willful or repeat violation
- Up to $16,550 per day for failure to abate a hazard you were already cited for
Those are maximums for federal OSHA jurisdictions. State-plan states set their own amounts, which can differ, so if you are working in a state that runs its own program, check that program's figures rather than assuming the federal ones apply.
Note what the failure-to-abate penalty does. It runs per day. A cited hazard you did not fix is the one category where the cost is open-ended rather than a single number, which is why it is the one to deal with first.
The clock
When OSHA issues a citation, it names the standard you broke, sets a date by which the hazard must be fixed, and proposes a penalty. From that point you have 15 working days to do one of three things:
- Fix it and pay
- Ask for an informal conference with the OSHA area director
- Formally contest the citation
Let 15 working days pass without doing any of them and the citation becomes a final order. At that point it is not really arguable any more, and it sits on your record where it can turn a future violation into a repeat one, which is the difference between the $16,550 tier and the $165,514 tier.
Why the informal conference is underused
Option two costs nothing and is the one small contractors skip most often, usually because it sounds formal and adversarial. It generally is not. It is a conversation about what happened, what you have already fixed, and whether the classification and the penalty fit the facts. Turning up with evidence that you abated the hazard promptly is exactly the sort of thing that gets discussed there.
The thing that does not work is silence. Doing nothing is the only response with no upside at all.
If a citation lands
Read the abatement date before you read the penalty. Fix the hazard and document that you fixed it, with dates and photos. Then decide which of the three routes you are taking, and start it inside the 15 working days.
How OSHA citations and penalties work covers the classifications and the reduction factors that can move the number. If an inspector is on site right now, OSHA inspection: what happens and your rights is the one to read first. More in Site Safety and OSHA.