Data last updated: September 07, 2026
Pennsylvania OSHA offices logged 22 ladder-related citations over the past 12 months, with penalties averaging $2,972 and a median of $1,781. Twelve of those 22 were classified Serious, two were Repeat violations, and Phoenixville turned up as the city with the most activity. If you run a roofing or framing crew anywhere in the state, this is not a rare enforcement niche — it is a routine line item in OSHA’s field inspection work.
If you have already received a citation, the clock is running. Talk to a Pennsylvania OSHA defense attorney before you sign anything or miss a filing window.
What the ladder standard actually asks of a Pennsylvania jobsite
Every one of these 22 cases traces back to a single regulation: 1926.1053, OSHA’s general requirements for ladders on construction sites. The rule is not just about owning a ladder that meets code — it covers how far an extension ladder must reach past a roof or landing edge, how much weight the ladder and its rated duty class can safely carry, what happens when equipment is damaged or modified in the field, and how workers are expected to use ladders (facing them, keeping three points of contact, not standing on top rungs) while work is actually happening. Inspectors do not need to see an accident to write a citation. They just need to see a ladder set up wrong, or a crew member using one improperly, during a walk-around. For the full text of what compliance looks like under this rule, see the 1926.1053 standard overview.
Roofers carry most of the exposure here
Of the 22 citations tallied in Pennsylvania, 13 went to roofing contractors — well over half. Framing contractors picked up four, and specialty trade contractors accounted for one more. That pattern lines up with how roofing work actually happens: crews are constantly moving ladders between different roof edges and pitches over the course of a single job, which multiplies the number of setup opportunities that can go wrong compared to a trade that uses one ladder in one spot for a longer stretch. It also means OSHA inspectors targeting roofing sites already expect to find ladder issues, which raises the odds of a citation simply from being on their radar. If you operate in this trade, the roofing contractors citation data breaks down how this exposure compares across other states.
Named citations from the past year
Public OSHA records show the range of penalties companies in Pennsylvania have actually paid. Shalom Roofing & Siding, LLC, in Phoenixville was cited under 19261053 B01 for a Repeat violation issued January 6, 2026, carrying a $11,916 penalty. Care Home Improvement, LLC, in Manayunk received a nearly identical $11,916 penalty for a Repeat violation issued June 25, 2026, also under 19261053 B22. Brave Heart Carpentry Inc. in Macungie was fined $11,823 for a Serious violation cited December 2, 2025. Golden Hammer Roofing, LLC, in Mechanicsburg paid $5,107 for a Serious violation issued February 20, 2026, and Gilroy Construction LLC in Camp Hill was cited $5,000 for a Serious violation on September 9, 2025. Notice the jump between the Serious cases and the two Repeat cases — that gap is not random, and it is worth understanding before it happens to your company.
Why the dollar figure on your citation might not be final
A Serious citation in Pennsylvania during this period averaged in the low thousands, but Repeat violations — meaning OSHA found the same or a substantially similar hazard at your company before — pushed penalties past $11,000 in both named examples above. That multiplier exists specifically to discourage companies from treating an earlier citation as a cost of doing business rather than something to fix. At the same time, the data shows average penalties dropped by about 16% between the initial citation and the final settled amount across these cases. That gap did not close itself. It reflects employers who pushed back, provided documentation, or negotiated rather than simply paying the number on the page. For a deeper breakdown of how these figures are calculated and where reductions typically come from, see the OSHA ladder violation penalty guide.
A 16% reduction on an $11,916 Repeat citation is real money, but it rarely happens without someone pushing back on your behalf. This is the point where talking to a Pennsylvania OSHA defense attorney tends to pay for itself.
The 15-day window that decides your options
Once a citation is issued, you have exactly 15 working days to file a Notice of Contest. Miss it, and the citation — along with the full proposed penalty — becomes a final order automatically, with almost no path back. That is true whether you were cited $5,000 like Gilroy Construction or $11,916 like Shalom Roofing & Siding and Care Home Improvement. Fifteen working days moves fast once you account for weekends, mail delivery, and the time it takes to actually read and understand the citation paperwork. The step-by-step guide to contesting an OSHA citation walks through what that filing needs to include and what happens after you send it.
Waiting to see if the citation just goes away is the one option that guarantees the worst outcome. If you are inside that 15-working-day window right now, get a Pennsylvania OSHA defense attorney reviewing your paperwork today, not next week.
Whether you are a roofing contractor in Phoenixville or a framing crew elsewhere in the state, the numbers above are not abstract — they are what companies just like yours actually paid in the last 12 months. Pull your citation, check the date it was issued, and figure out exactly how many working days you have left before deciding your next move.