Citations describe OSHA requirements allegedly violated, list any proposed penalties, and give a deadline for correcting the alleged hazards.

The compliance officer will give you a call approximately two weeks before you can expect the violations to be sent in the mail. OSHA sends citations of proposed penalties by certified mail. Employers are required to post a copy of each citation at or near the place a violation occurred, for three days or until the violation is abated, whichever is longer.

Note that on multi-employer worksites, more than one employer may be citable for a hazardous condition that violates an OSHA standard. Under the agency’s Multi-Employer Citation Policy (CPL 02-00-124), OSHA will first determine whether each of the site employers is a creating, exposing, correcting, or controlling employer. If an employer falls into one of these categories, it has obligations with respect to OSHA requirements, and the agency will determine if the employer's actions were sufficient to meet those obligations.