Increased OSHA Fines are Here

Thursday, July 28, 2016

November 2, 2015: Congress passed the 2015 Inflation Adjustment Act, directing agencies to adjust their civil penalties for inflation every year. This requires a one-time “catch-up” adjustment that may not exceed 150% of the existing penalty amount.

Interim Final Rule

June 30th, 2016: The Department of Labor announced an interim final rule increasing OSHA’s penalties—which have not been raised since 1990—by 78%.

• OSHA’s maximum penalty for serious violations increases to $12,471 from $7,000. 
• OSHA’s maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations increases to $124,709 from $70,000.

Effective Date:

Applicable to citations issued by OSHA after August 1, 2016 if the violation(s) occurred after November 2, 2015.

There is a request for comment period for the interim final rule ending August 15th, 2016.

 

OSHA Fact Sheet further detailing the OSHA Adjustments.

For more information on individual penalty adjustments, view the DOL’s Penalty Adjustments Chart.

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