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BIE Safety Advisor | Feb. 2025

Lisa Ramirez | January 6, 2025

OSHA Alert: Penalties Increased Jan. 16

Cost-of-living increases to OSHA’s civil penalties have been unveiled and became effective Jan. 16, 2025.

This final rule increases civil penalties the Department of Labor assesses, including those issued by OSHA, based on workplace inspections and potential violations of safety and health standards. The increased penalty rates apply to any penalties assessed after the effective date of the rule.

The updated penalties are:

  • Other than Serious Violation: A violation that has a direct relationship to job safety and health but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.
    A penalty of up to $16,550 (increased from $16,131) for each violation is discretionary. A penalty for an other-than-serious violation may be adjusted downward by as much as 93 percent, depending on the employer’s good faith (demonstrated efforts to comply with the Act), history of previous violations, and size of business.
  • Serious Violation: A violation where there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result, and that the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard.
    A penalty of up to $16,550 per violation (increased from $16,131) is mandatory. A penalty for a serious violation may be adjusted downward, based on the employer’s good faith, history of previous violations, the gravity of the alleged violation and size of business.
  • Willful Violation: A violation that the employer knowingly commits or commits with plain indifference to the law; The employer knows that what he or she is doing constitutes a violation or is aware that a hazardous condition existed and made no reasonable effort to eliminate it.
    Penalties of up to $165,514 (increased from $161,323) for each willful violation can be imposed. The penalty may be adjusted downward, depending on the size of the business and its history of previous violations. Usually, no credit is given for good faith. If an employer is convicted of a willful violation that has resulted in the death of an employee, the offense is punishable by a court imposed fine or by imprisonment for up to six months, or both.
    A fine of up to $250,000 for an individual, or $500,000 for a corporation, may be imposed for a criminal conviction.
  • Repeat Violation: A violation of any standard, regulation, rule, or order where, upon re-inspection, a substantially similar violation can bring a fine of up to $165,514 (increased from $161,323) per violation.
    To be the basis of a repeated citation, the original citation must be final; a citation under contest may not serve as the basis for a subsequent repeated citation.
  • Failure to Abate Prior Violation
    Failure to abate a prior violation may bring a civil penalty of up to $16,550 (increased from $16,131) for each day the violation continues beyond the prescribed abatement date.

Congress passed the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act in 2015 to advance the effectiveness of civil monetary penalties and to maintain their deterrent effect. Under the act, agencies are required to publish “catchup” rules that adjust civil monetary penalties and make annual adjustments for inflation no later than Jan.15 of each year. 

Source: Occupational Safety Consultants, www.WorkRiskFree.com