Informal Settlement Agreement

What It Means

An informal settlement agreement (ISA) is a negotiated resolution between an employer and OSHA that occurs during the 15-day contest period, before a formal legal proceeding is initiated. During an informal conference — which the employer can request by contacting the OSHA area director — both parties discuss the citation, the violations found, the proposed penalties, and the abatement requirements. The employer may present additional evidence, explain corrective actions already taken, or propose alternative abatement methods. If the parties reach an agreement, OSHA may reduce penalty amounts (typically by 30-50%), extend abatement dates, reclassify the violation type (e.g., from Serious to Other-than-Serious), or withdraw certain citation items entirely. In exchange, the employer typically agrees not to contest the remaining citations and to complete abatement within the agreed timeframe. Informal settlement is the most common method of resolving OSHA citations — far more cases are settled informally than proceed to formal contest before the Review Commission. On OSHARecord, penalty amounts shown as "Final Penalty" reflect any reductions from settlement agreements.

Frequently Asked Questions