In January of 2022, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a 5% increase in the civil penalty amounts assessed for violations of its regulations.
As of mid-January, the maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations rose to $145,027. This represents nearly $10,000 of an increase from the previous maximum for the same violations. The maximum penalty for failure-to-abate violations increased to $14,502 for each day after the abatement deadline where no abatement has taken place.
The maximum penalty allowed for serious, other-than-serious, and posting requirements violations is now $14,502, representing an increase of nearly $1,000 above the maximum amounts that had been adopted last year.
States that operate their own Occupational Safety and Health plans are required by law to adopt maximum penalties levels that are at least as effective as federal OSHA’s penalties.
It is important to consider that while the maximum penalty for a repeated violation is $145,027, in the next few years, the maximum penalty could reach over $150,000 after inflation adjustments are applied.
It is also routine for an employer to receive multiple violations in one OSHA Citation and Notification of Penalty. Multiple penalties at $145,027, let alone any other penalty after inflation, could have drastic effects for a business and a worksite.
Employers should keep a watchful eye on additional legislation to increase OSHA penalties that could be in the offing.
The Build Back Better (BBB) bill, which had been approved by the House of Representatives only to later be stymied in the Senate in late 2021. That measure’s nearly 2,500 pages included some staggering increases in OSHA penalties. For serious violations, the maximum penalty would have gone from $14,502 to $70,000. For willful and repeat violations, the penalty would have increased from $145,027 to $700,000.
The Democratic legislators who proposed these increases said they believe they are needed to provide penalties large enough to prove to be a real deterrent for employers who could be expected to commit these violations otherwise.
Although the massive BBB bill appears to be dead, President Biden has said he intends to see parts of it reintroduced as separate pieces of legislation.
The 2022 OSHA penalty levels should spur employers to strongly consider challenging an OSHA citation regardless of its seriousness. With repeat violation penalties now climbing to almost $150,000, it would be difficult for almost any company to financially sustain repeat offenses.
Generally it is believed that the current amounts are only going to rise, legislation or no legislation. Since 2015, OSHA maximum penalty amounts have more than doubled. In the past seven years, serious, other-than-serious and posting requirement violations are up from $7,000 to $14,502 per violation. Violations for failure to abate (assessed per day) have seen the same increase. Willful or repeated violation maximum penalty amounts also jumped from $70,000 to $145,027 per violation. So the trend is that penalty amounts will continue to rise and that failure by employers to implement OSHA regulations will result in a heavy financial penalty on any company.
Credit tom EHS Toady for the original article : https://www.ehstoday.com/standards/osha/article/21235312/regulatory-update-osha-hikes-penalty-amounts
IMEC Technologies provides Safety Management Software to increase worker safety and aid compliance. IMEC’s Safety Management Software will manage inspections and audits, provides hazard identification, incident reporting, management of corrective and preventative actions from generation to closure. IMEC provides lock out tag out software solutions that will allow users to create lockout tagout procedures using an intuitive Mobile App and Manage Lockout Tagout Procedures, also the Review and Execution of those Lockout Tagout Procedures using the Mobile App. Annual Lockout Tagout Procedures audits are conducted using a Mobile App. The Mobile Inspection App allow users to perform inspections and audits, for example the system can be used as a Fire Extinguisher Barcode Inspection Software system to manage monthly fire extinguisher inspections and general fire safety inspections and also to record safety observations and manage corrective actions, anywhere and anytime. The solution can be used as a fire extinguisher barcode inspection software system or life safety inspection system to aid compliance in Higher Education, Healthcare, Industrial and Commercial Organizations. Benefits from a Fire Extinguisher Barcode System include the elimination of paperwork and reducing the burden of compliance with regulations such as NFPA, The Joint Commission. The Incident Reporting App allows users to easily and quickly report incidents, hazards and near-misses, these are then sent to the appropriate people for action and are managed to closure. Web Apps provide features such as, setup, management, scheduling tools, analysis, reporting and dashboards etc with the ability to report incidents to government bodies such as OSHA and RIDDOR. HazMat T&T is a hazardous waste management software solution designed for Environmental Service Companies and companies who generate a large quantity of hazardous waste. The solution tracks hazardous waste from cradle to grave aiding compliance, providing accurate waste inventory, increasing waste handling efficiency, reducing risk and also helps manage waste costs. HazMat T&T Hazardous Waste Management Software can be deployed in a number of deployment scenarios, from Large Hazardous Waste Generators, tracking their hazardous waste at their site to Environmental Service and Waste Management Companies using it track and manage hazardous waste at transfer and disposal sites. For more information visit our website www.imectechnologies.com