Increased maximum fines aren’t the only new aspect of OSHA’s penalty policy. Who gets the maximum (and who doesn’t) under what circumstances has also changed in some situations.
On Aug. 2, 2016, OSHA issued its revised Field Operations Manual (FOM) for its enforcement employees. Most all of the changes have to do with the new maximum fines which went into effect on the same date.
First, a recap of the new maximums:
- $12,471 per violation for serious, other-than-serious and posting requirement violations
- $12,471 per violations per day for failure to abate violations (generally limited to 30 days maximum), and
- $124,709 per violation for willful or repeat violations.
Now, the details from the FOM:
- The minimum for a willful violation is $8,908
- The minimum for a serious violation is $891
- Serious violations considered high gravity carry a $12,471 fine
- Serious violations considered moderate gravity carry penalties ranging from $7,126 to $10,689
- Serious violations considered low gravity carry a $5,345 fine
- OSHA Area Directors can determine that the maximum $12,471 may be proposed for serious and other-than-serious violations “to achieve the necessary deterrent effect,” despite usual gravity-based calculations. Among the potential reasons not to apply penalty reductions:
- The employer is currently on the Severe Violator Enforcement List or proposed citations meet requirements for inclusion on the list
- The proposed citations are related to a fatality/catastrophe
- The employer has received a willful or repeat violation within the past five years related to a fatality
- The employer has been referred to debt collection for past unpaid OSHA penalties
- The employer has numerous recordkeeping violations related to a large number of rate of injuries and illnesses, or
- The employer has failed to report a fatality, inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye.
- “Good faith” reductions in penalties (up to 25%) aren’t allowed when the violation is high gravity serious, willful or repeat
- The maximum reductions for smaller companies are revised (company size is for all workplaces nationwide):
- 1-10 employees: 70%
- 11-25: 60%
- 26-100: 30%
- 101-250: 10%, and
- 251 or more: none.
- The only reduction available for repeat violations is the one for company size
- Serious willful violations have different maximum reductions by company size:
- 10 or fewer employees: 80%
- 11-20: 60%
- 21-30: 50%
- 31-40: 40%
- 41-50: 30%
- 51-100: 20%
- 101-250: 10%, and
- 251 or more: none.
OSHA has extended a reduction for company size to the smallest employers. Previously, the maximum company size reduction for 1-25 employees was 60%. Now for those with 1-10 workers, the reduction can be as high as 70%.
