Last November, we issued an update alerting readers of this blog that in last fall’s budget bill, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had been given authorization to increase its penalties by up to 82%, to account for inflation for several decades. In order to implement the increase, OSHA had to issue an interim final rule by July 1 that would go into effect by August 1. As expected, OSHA has indeed taken advantage of this authorization to increase its penalties.
As of August 1, OSHA’s new maximum penalty structure is as follows:
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Other-than-Serious violation: increased from $7,000 to $12,471;
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Serious violation: increased from $7,000 to $12,471;
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Repeat violation: increased from $70,000 to $124,709;
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Willful violation: increased from $70,000 to $124,709; and
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Failure-to-Abate violation: increased from $7,000 to $12,471 per day.
These penalties are a significant increase, and when these new maximum penalties are combined with OSHA’s new enforcement priorities, they may result in citations with total penalty amounts that are higher than previously common.
