OSHA penalties to rise 78 percent on August 1

Late last year, we first warned that OSHA penalties would be on the rise. Now, we finally know when and by how much.

On August 1, OSHA’s penalties will increase, across the board, by a whopping 78 percent. What do these increases look like?

• For serious, other-than-serious, and posting violations, the maximum penalty will increase from $7,000 per violation to $12,471 per violation.
• For failures to abate, from $7,000 per day beyond the abatement date to $12,471 per day beyond the abatement date.
• For willful or repeated violations, from $70,000 per violation to $124,709 per violation.

While the increase will not take effect until August 1, it will apply retroactively to violations that occurred as far back as November 2, 2015. Moreover, these penalties will continue to increase annually for inflation.

What does this mean for your business? Can your business afford to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in citations? Because of these increased penalties, companies need to more prepared than ever for an OSHA inspection. Employers cannot wait until OSHA arrives at the door to prioritize safety compliance. Employers need to get their workplace-safety houses in order now, before OSHA arrives. The cost this responsibility is just too steep to ignore.