Data last updated: August 24, 2026
Massachusetts inspectors issued 21 scaffolding violations under OSHA standard 1926.451 over the past 12 months, with an average penalty of $2,530 and a median of $2,000. Every single one of those 21 citations was classified as Serious — no Willful or Repeat findings in this batch, which tells you these are largely fall-hazard and access problems on active job sites, not cases of employers ignoring prior warnings. Lowell recorded more citations than any other city in the state.
If you or your company just received a scaffolding citation in Massachusetts, the clock is already running. Talk to a Massachusetts OSHA defense attorney before you decide how to respond.
What the Scaffolding Standard Actually Requires on a Massachusetts Job Site
OSHA’s scaffolding rule, found at 1926.451, is not a single narrow requirement — it’s a broad set of rules covering how scaffolds get built, how much weight they can hold, how workers get on and off them safely, and when guardrails, planking, and fall protection are mandatory. In plain terms, if a crew is working from a platform more than a few feet off the ground, the frame has to be rated for the load it’s carrying, the planking has to fully cover the working surface without dangerous gaps, and workers need a safe way up and a way to avoid a fall while they work.
Inspectors in Massachusetts are citing employers under specific subsections of this standard. The examples below reference provisions like 19260451 B05 II and 19260451 G01 I — these correspond to distinct requirements within the rule, such as platform construction and fall protection triggers, meaning OSHA isn’t issuing one generic violation but pointing to a specific failure point on the scaffold itself.
Roofers Are Getting Cited More Than Everyone Else Combined
Of the 21 citations issued statewide, 12 went to roofing contractors — well over half. Siding contractors picked up 4 citations, and framing contractors added 2 more. That concentration isn’t a coincidence. Roofing work in Massachusetts routinely involves steep-slope access, temporary scaffold setups on residential additions, and crews moving quickly between properties, all of which raise the odds that a platform gets built without full decking or that guardrails get skipped to save time. Siding and framing crews face similar exposure whenever they’re working from rented or job-built scaffolds rather than fixed structures.
What a Citation Actually Costs — and What the Named Cases Show
The dollar figures in Massachusetts run from a median of $2,000 up toward $6,000 for more serious platform or access failures, and the state’s average scaffolding violation penalty of $2,530 sits well below what you’d see for Willful or Repeat findings elsewhere — a reminder that even a first-time Serious citation is not cheap. Recent public records show the range in practice:
- Stuart General Construction Corp. in Leominster: $5,958, Serious, cited under 19260451 E01, issued March 26, 2026
- Batista Roofing And Vinyl Siding, Inc. in Lowell: $4,965, Serious, cited under 19260451 B05 II, issued December 29, 2025
- Hwa Services Llc in Westwood: $3,972, Serious, cited under 19260451 G01 I, issued January 23, 2026
- Real Minas Construction, Inc. in Merrimac: $3,972, Serious, cited under 19260451 C02, issued June 15, 2026
- J N Picariello Co., Llc in Hamilton: $2,780, Serious, cited under 19260451 C02, issued May 19, 2026
One number worth paying close attention to: penalties in Massachusetts have historically dropped by an average of 21% between the initial citation and the final settled amount. That gap doesn’t happen automatically. It reflects employers who challenged the classification, corrected the hazard, negotiated the penalty, or presented evidence OSHA hadn’t fully weighed. A citation that lands at $5,958 is not necessarily a $5,958 bill — but getting it reduced takes action, not silence.
Before you pay a citation at face value, it’s worth finding out whether that 21% average reduction applies to your case. A Massachusetts OSHA defense attorney can review the citation and tell you what’s realistically negotiable.
You Have 15 Working Days — Not 15 Calendar Days
Once your company receives an OSHA citation, the countdown to file a Notice of Contest is 15 working days. That excludes weekends and federal holidays, but it goes fast — most employers spend the first week just figuring out who’s responsible for the response, and by then a third of the window is already gone. Miss the deadline and the citation becomes a final order, no matter how strong your defense would have been.
Contesting doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to fight OSHA in a hearing. It preserves your options — to negotiate the penalty, argue the classification, or dispute the abatement timeline — while you and counsel sort out the facts. The process for filing, along with what happens after, is laid out at how to contest an OSHA citation, but the mechanics matter less than the timing: if you wait to see whether OSHA follows up, you’ve likely already lost the ability to contest.
If the 15-working-day window is still open on your citation, don’t spend it deciding on your own. A Massachusetts OSHA defense attorney can tell you within a short call whether contesting makes sense for your situation.
Pull your citation paperwork, confirm the date you received it, and count forward — that number of working days is the only deadline that matters right now. Whether you run a roofing crew in Lowell or a framing outfit anywhere else in the state, the fastest way to protect your business is to get a qualified set of eyes on the citation before that window closes.