The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced a new program for "severe violators" and an increase in it's penalty amounts. The changes to be phased in over the next several months are the result of a year-long OSHA study that found current assessed penalties "are too low to have an adequate deterrent effect," according to the OSHA Announcement.

Under the new policy, the average penalty for a serious violation will increase from about $1,000 to an average of $3,000 to $4,000.

The current maximum penalty for a serious violation, one capable of causing death or serious physical harm, is $7,000 and the maximum penalty for a willful violation is $70,000. These will change to $12,000 and $250,000, respectively.

Other changes to the penalty calculation system include: expanding the time frame for considering an employer's history of violations from three years to five years; increasing penalties by 10% for employers who have been cited for any high-gravity, serious, willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations within the previous five years; increasing the minimum penalty for a serious violation to $500; and limiting the ability of an OSHA area director to reduce fines to 30%.  

The new Severe Violator Enforcement Program is intended to focus on "recalcitrant employers who endanger workers by demonstrating indifference to their responsibilities under the law," according to OSHA. These employers will be subject to mandatory follow-up inspections and other forms of enhanced scrutiny.

"OSHA inspections and penalties must be large enough to discourage employers from cutting corners or underfunding safety programs to save a few dollars," said the OSHA announcement. "These penalty changes will increase the overall dollar amount of all penalties, while maintaining OSHA's policy of reducing penalties for small employers and those acting in good faith."

 OSHA has hired and will be hiring several more enforcement agent to begin aggressive auditing on targeted industries. You need to know if you are on the targeted industires list. Recently, Safety Trainers was contacted by a sign manufacturing company who has expanded and grown over the last 10 years and did not realize that they have fallen out of compliance in several Health & Safety areas in thier business. They are also a targeted business for the next two years. By doing an onsite audit and evaluation, a business owner can easily see what fines they would have been sited if OSHA walked through the door. Also, an audit shows you how much it would have cost you in fines. Make any change in the workplace is cost effective and it saves lives. What are your OSHA Compliance Needs?