Understanding OSHA Citations: A Comprehensive Guide for Employers

By
Ubong Edet
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OSHA Citations

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) being a regulatory body for Occupational Health and Safety in the United States has been saddled with the duty of keeping workers safe in their place of divers occupation. They try to achieve these by drawing out guidelines for all to follow and also carrying out inspections in the workplaces; where a bridge of any of their guidelines is spotted during inspection, the organization involved could be issued a citation – OSHA Citation.

What is OSHA Citation

Hence a Citation which you can equally call a Non-Conformance Notice is issued if upon inspection or investigation, the OSHA Secretary or his authorized representative believes that an employer has violated a requirement of section 5 of OSHA Occupational Health and Safety Act, of any standard, rule or order promulgated pursuant to section 6 of this Act, or of any regulations prescribed pursuant to this Act, he shall with reasonable promptness issue a citation to the employer.

Each citation shall be in writing and shall describe with particularity the nature of the violation, including a reference to the provision of the Act, standard, rule, regulation, or order alleged to have been violated. In addition, the citation shall fix a reasonable time for the abatement of the violation.

NOTE: OSHA violations result in a penalty in the form of a fine. However, if the violation does not put your employees at risk, the agency will typically give you a citation rather than a penalty.

Most Common OSHA Citation of 2023

According to ClickSafety here are the top OSHA citations of 2023 with the number of violations:

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Type  Number of Violations
1. Fall Protection (General) 7,271
2. Hazard Communication 3,123
3. Ladders 2,978
4. Scaffolding 2,859
5. Powered Industrial Trucks 2,561
6. Control of Hazardous Energy
(Lockout/Tagout)		 2,554
7. Respiratory Protection 2,481
8. Fall Protection (Training) 2,112
9. Personal Protective Equipment 2,074
10. Machine Guarding 1,644

OSHA Violation and Penalties

  • Serious: A serious violation is one that could likely cause death, illness, or serious injury.
  • Other-than-serious: An other-than-serious violation is analogous to a step down from a serious one, it directly affects job safety and worker health, but isn’t likely to cause serious physical harm.
  • Posting requirements: If you receive an OSHA citation, you have to post it at or near the area where the violation occurred and keep it posted for at least three working days or until the hazard is abated.
  • Failure to abate: If you don’t address an OSHA violation in the designated timeline, you could be cited again for your failure to abate the workplace hazard.
  • Willful or repeated: A willful violation is when an employer knowingly fails to comply with OSHA standards, or otherwise acts with indifference towards employee safety. If an employer is caught violating the same standard multiple times, or never addresses the initial issue, they can be cited for a repeated violation.
  • De minimis: A de minimis violation is a technical violation of OSHA rules that doesn’t directly impact workplace health or safety. Fines and citations aren’t usually issued for this.
Violation Minimum Penalty Maximum Penalty
Serious $1,116 per violation $15,625 per violation
Other-Than-Serious $0 per violation $15,625 per violation
Posting Requirements $0 per violation $15,625 per violation
Failure to Abate N/A $15,625 per day unabated beyond the abatement date (generally limited to 30 days maximum)
Willful or Repeated $11,162 per violation $156,259 per violation
De minimis N/A N/A
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What to do Upon Receiving a Citation

1903.16(a)

Upon receipt of any citation under the Act, the employer shall immediately post such citation, or a copy thereof, unedited, at or near each place an alleged violation referred to in the citation occurred, except as provided below. Where, because of the nature of the employer’s operations, it is not practicable to post the citation at or near each place of alleged violation, such citation shall be posted, unedited, in a prominent place where it will be readily observable by all affected employees.
For example, where employers are engaged in activities which are physically dispersed (see §1903.2(b)), the citation may be posted at the location to which employees report each day. Where employees do not primarily work at or report to a single location (see §1903.2(b)), the citation may be posted at the location from which the employees operate to carry out their activities. The employer shall take steps to ensure that the citation is not altered, defaced, or covered by other material. Notices of de minimis violations need not be posted.
1903.16(b)
Each citation, or a copy thereof, shall remain posted until the violation has been abated, or for 3 working days, whichever is later. The filing by the employer of a notice of intention to contest under §1903.17 shall not affect his posting responsibility under this section unless and until the Review Commission issues a final order vacating the citation.
1903.16(c)

An employer to whom a citation has been issued may post a notice in the same location where such citation is posted indicating that the citation is being contested before the Review Commission, and such notice may explain the reasons for such contest. The employer may also indicate that specified steps have been taken to abate the violation.
1903.16(d)

Any employer failing to comply with the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section shall be subject to citation and penalty in accordance with § 1903.15(d).

OSHA Citations Can Only Be Issued For Current Violations or Those That Have Existed Within The Past?

The answer is very direct, OSHA citation can be issued for both current violations and those that have existed within the past.

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Here is what OSHA citation covers:

  • For present violation –

Citation which you can equally call a Non-Conformance Notice is given if upon inspection or investigation, the Secretary or his authorized representative believes that an employer has violated a requirement of section 5 of OSHA Occupational Health and Safety Act, of any standard, rule or order promulgated pursuant to section 6 of this Act, or of any regulations prescribed pursuant to this Act, he shall with reasonable promptness issue a citation to the employer.

  • For Violations that existed within the past –

A hazardous condition that violates an OSHA standard or the general duty clause shall be cited only when employee exposure can be documented. The exposure(s) must have occurred within the six months immediately preceding the issuance of the citation to serve as a basis for a violation, except where the employer has concealed the violative condition or misled OSHA, in which case the citation must be issued within six months from the date when OSHA learns, or should have known, of the condition.

So, the above two (2) instances has confirmed our answer that OSHA citation can be issued both for present violations and past violations.

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