Oklahoma Extends Citation Deadline for Public Employer Fatality Investigations

Quick Hits

• Oklahoma has amended its occupational safety and health citation rule to allow the ODOL to issue citations against public employers more than six months after an alleged violation when that violation arises from a fatality investigation or when third-party conduct caused the delay.
• The amendment takes effect July 11, 2026, and applies to state and local government employers covered by Oklahoma’s public employee occupational safety and health program.
• While citation issuance for violations is mandatory, fine assessment remains discretionary, and the ODOL has stated its preference for achieving compliance without assessing fines.

An amended version of OAR 380:40-1-16 now allows the ODOL to issue citations beyond the six-month window in two circumstances: (1) when a citation arises from a fatality investigation, or (2) when a delay in issuance was caused by parties other than the ODOL. According to the ODOL, fatality investigations are complex and frequently take longer than six months. This is often due to coordination with law enforcement, medical examiners, and other agencies, including reliance on outside entities to supply reports and information outside the ODOL’s control. ODOL reasoned that the prior rule was allowing violators to escape accountability on timing grounds alone.

Two Exceptions

The first exception is broad. The language of the rule amendment suggests that a citation need not be for the violation that caused the fatality; it only needs to arise from or relate to the fatality investigation. Conditions observed incidentally during a fatality inspection, even those unrelated to the death itself, could support a citation issued well after the six-month mark.

The second exception, for third-party-caused delays, is less defined. The rule provides no guidance on what conduct qualifies, which will likely generate disputes as the ODOL begins applying it.

One meaningful limitation worth noting: while citation issuance is mandatory when a violation is found, fine assessment is discretionary. The ODOL has stated its intent to work with public employers to correct violations without imposing fines where possible.

Practical Steps for Public Employers

Public employers can no longer treat the passage of six months as a signal that a post-incident investigation has run its course. For any facility or worksite that has experienced a fatality, enforcement exposure now extends through the life of the ODOL’s investigation. Practically speaking, that means:

• preserving records for as long as the investigation remains open. Inspection records, training logs, maintenance documentation, and internal communications are all potentially relevant; and
• updating legal hold procedures to reflect that fatality investigations are open-ended for citation purposes.

Scope Note

This amendment applies exclusively to public employers under Oklahoma’s Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH) program. Oklahoma is one of only seven states that administers its own occupational safety and health program to public sector employers exclusively rather than deferring to federal OSHA, giving it authority to set procedural rules of this kind. Private sector employers in Oklahoma remain subject to federal OSHA’s jurisdiction and its separate six-month citation deadline under 29 U.S.C. § 658(c).

Ogletree Deakins’ Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group and Oklahoma City office will continue to monitor developments and provide updates on the Oklahoma and Workplace Safety and Health blogs as additional information becomes available.

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