Data last updated: August 31, 2026
Idaho issued only 7 fall protection violations under 1926.501 over the past 12 months, but do not read that small number as low risk. The average penalty came in at $7,823, the median sat at $3,405, and the largest single citation on record hit $19,462. Boise led the state in citation activity, and framing contractors accounted for more than half of all cases.
If you are staring down a citation right now, the clock is already running. You get 15 working days from the date you receive it to file a Notice of Contest, and after that the fine is locked in. Talking to an Idaho OSHA defense attorney before that window closes is the single most useful thing you can do today.
What 1926.501 Actually Requires on an Idaho Jobsite
The rule behind every one of these citations, 1926.501, is fairly blunt: once a worker is exposed to a fall of six feet or more to a lower level on a construction site, the employer has to have protection in place before work starts, not after an inspector shows up. That protection means guardrails, safety nets, or a personal fall arrest system, chosen and installed correctly for the task at hand.
OSHA does not require a fall to actually happen. The citation applies the moment someone is working at height without one of these systems properly set up. That is why so many of these cases involve roof edges, open floor holes, and scaffold platforms where the exposure was visible and ongoing at the time of inspection.
Framing Crews Carry the Weight of Idaho’s Enforcement Numbers
Four of the seven citations issued in Idaho this year went to framing contractors, making it the clear leader among cited trades. Roofing contractors and commercial building construction each accounted for one citation apiece.
The pattern makes sense once you look at the work itself. Framing crews spend their days moving across open floor systems, walking beams, and working near unprotected edges before walls and guardrails are permanently in place. That is exactly the kind of transitional, in-between-stages work that OSHA inspectors are trained to flag, and it is where a missing personal fall arrest system or an incomplete guardrail becomes an easy citation to write.
What These Citations Actually Cost in Idaho
Of the 7 citations issued, 5 were classified as Serious, 1 as Repeat, and 1 as Other-than-Serious. That breakdown matters because a Repeat classification signals to OSHA that the employer was cited for the same or a similar hazard before, and it drives the penalty up sharply. That is exactly what happened with Cano Roofing, Inc. in Boise, cited under subsection B13 and issued a $19,462 penalty on September 3, 2025, for a Repeat violation.
Compare that to the Serious citations in the same period. Edgar Construction Llc in Star was cited under B04(I) for $13,240, and Dave Evans Construction, Llc, also in Star and under the same subsection, was fined $11,585, both issued July 9, 2026. R.A.C. Construction Llc in Eagle was cited under B13 for $3,405, matching the statewide median almost exactly, issued March 12, 2026. On the lower end, Mdk General Construction Llc in Boise received a $3,376 Other-than-Serious citation under B01 on July 22, 2026.
Idaho’s average penalty reduction between the initial citation and the final settled amount runs at 26 percent. That figure alone tells you something important: a meaningful share of these fines get negotiated down before they are finalized, but that only happens when the employer engages the process instead of just paying the initial number. For a full breakdown of how OSHA calculates and adjusts these figures, see this OSHA fall protection violations penalty amounts guide.
A $19,462 Repeat citation or even a $13,240 Serious citation is real money for a small framing or roofing outfit, and it can climb further if OSHA finds a second instance of the same hazard on the same site. Before you accept whatever number is printed on your citation, talk to an Idaho OSHA defense attorney about whether that 26 percent average reduction applies to your situation too.
You Have 15 Working Days — Here Is What to Do With Them
Once a citation lands in your hands, OSHA starts a strict 15-working-day countdown. If you want to contest the classification, the proposed abatement date, or the penalty amount, your Notice of Contest has to be filed within that window. Miss it, and the citation becomes a final order with no further right to appeal through that process.
That is a short runway, especially if you are also trying to run a jobsite and figure out what happened. Read through the specifics of your citation, the actual subsection cited (B01, B04, B13, and similar codes each point to a different failure under 1926.501), the inspection date, and the proposed penalty. Then get a second opinion. This how to contest an OSHA citation resource walks through the mechanics of the process, but the timeline is tight enough that reading alone will not save you the deadline.
Idaho’s numbers are small compared to bigger construction states, but the penalties per citation are not small, and a Repeat classification can follow your company into future inspections. Get your citation reviewed now, while you still have time to act on it, and talk to an Idaho OSHA defense attorney before your 15 working days run out.