Data last updated: September 28, 2026
Over the past 12 months, Indiana employers picked up 9 ladder-related OSHA citations under standard 1926.1053, with an average penalty of $1,612 and a median of $800. Valparaiso had more citations than any other city in the state. That might sound like a small number compared to bigger industrial states, but if you’re the one holding the citation, the size of the statewide total doesn’t matter much. What matters is the dollar figure on the page in front of you and the clock that started running the day you received it.
If you’ve been cited, or you suspect an inspection is coming, talking to an Indiana OSHA defense attorney now costs you far less than waiting until the contest window closes.
What OSHA Actually Expects Under the Ladder Standard
Nearly every citation in this dataset traces back to the 1926.1053 standard, which sets the baseline rules for ladder use on construction sites. It’s not just about owning a ladder that’s in decent shape. Inspectors look at whether the ladder extends far enough above a landing surface so workers have something stable to grab when stepping off, whether the ladder is rated to handle the actual load placed on it, whether it shows damage that should have taken it out of service, and whether workers are using it the way it was designed to be used rather than improvising. A single missed detail, like a ladder that stops right at the roofline instead of extending past it, is enough to trigger a citation even if nobody got hurt.
Which Indiana Industries Are Getting Cited
The industry breakdown here tells a clear story. Roofing contractors accounted for 3 of the 9 citations, more than any other trade in the state, followed by specialty trade contractors with 2 and residential building construction with 1. That pattern isn’t random. Roofing contractors spend most of their working hours going up and down ladders to access steep, elevated surfaces, often multiple times a day, which multiplies the chances that an inspector catches a setup that doesn’t meet the standard. Specialty trade crews face a similar issue when their work requires repeated access to attics, mechanical rooms, or upper floors using ladders that weren’t inspected or positioned correctly for that specific job.
What These Citations Actually Cost
Of the 9 citations issued statewide, 8 were classified as Serious and 1 as Other-than-Serious. Serious citations mean OSHA determined the violation created a real possibility of death or significant injury, and they typically carry heavier fines than Other-than-Serious findings. Real examples from the past year show how much these numbers can vary even within the same standard:
- Reynolds Construction Llc in Arcadia was cited for an Other-than-Serious violation under 19261053 B01, issued November 17, 2025, with a penalty of $6,300.
- Atlas Excavating Inc. in Anderson received a Serious citation under 19261053 B01, issued February 11, 2026, penalized at $2,700.
- The Bonilla Group Llc in North Liberty was cited Serious under 19261053 B01, issued January 28, 2026, at $1,600.
- Energy Efficient Roofing in Valparaiso, the city with the most citations statewide, was cited Serious under 19261053 B01, issued May 26, 2026, at $1,400.
- Olympia Roofing in Schererville received a Serious citation under 19261053 B01, issued February 02, 2026, at $800.
Notice that the Other-than-Serious citation for Reynolds Construction actually carries the highest penalty on this list, well above several of the Serious findings. That’s a reminder that classification alone doesn’t tell you the full financial story; the specific facts of the inspection and any history with OSHA weigh heavily too. It also helps explain why the average penalty in Indiana sits at $1,612 while the median is only $800: a handful of higher-dollar citations pull the average up, and most employers end up somewhere below it.
There’s also room to negotiate. Statewide data shows an average penalty reduction of 8% between the initial citation and the final settled amount, meaning employers who pushed back or negotiated typically paid less than what was first proposed. That gap exists because initial penalty calculations don’t always account for context OSHA didn’t have at inspection time, like abatement steps already underway or mitigating factors about the specific hazard. You can see how these calculations typically break down on our page covering OSHA ladder violations penalty amounts.
An 8% reduction on a $6,300 citation is real money, and it rarely happens without someone pushing back through the right channels. Before you write a check or let the deadline pass, it’s worth a conversation with an Indiana OSHA defense attorney who handles these cases regularly.
The Clock Starts the Day You Open the Envelope
Here’s the part employers most often get wrong: you have exactly 15 working days from the date you receive an OSHA citation to file a Notice of Contest. Miss that window and the citation becomes a final order, penalty and all, with almost no way to challenge it afterward regardless of how strong your case might have been. Fifteen working days sounds like a decent amount of time until you account for weekends, the days spent figuring out who on your team needs to review the paperwork, and the time it takes to find someone who actually knows OSHA procedure well enough to advise you.
Filing a Notice of Contest doesn’t commit you to a courtroom fight. It preserves your options while you and an attorney look at whether the citation was properly issued, whether the penalty math is fair, and whether a negotiated settlement makes more sense than a full contest. Our page on how to contest an OSHA citation walks through the mechanics of that process in more detail.
Given that most Indiana ladder citations in this dataset were Serious, and given that even a single citation can run into the thousands of dollars, treating the 15-working-day deadline as a soft suggestion is a costly mistake. Get an Indiana OSHA defense attorney looking at your citation before that window closes, not after.
If you’ve received a ladder citation anywhere in Indiana, from Valparaiso to Anderson to Schererville, the smartest first step is pulling out the citation paperwork, checking the issuance date, and counting backward from the deadline right now. Then get it in front of someone who handles these cases for a living before you decide whether to pay, negotiate, or contest.