Search

OSHA Penalties for Safety Violations Rise for 2020

Posted on 1/17/2020 by Roger Marks

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced increased civil penalties for violations of 29 CFR work safety programs.

Increased OSHA Penalty Amounts 

OSHA assigns different penalty amounts to violations of different kinds. Below are the adjusted civil penalties for violations occurring after November 2, 2015 for which OSHA assesses penalties after January 15, 2020. 
 
Type of OSHA violation Min. Penalty Max Penalty 29 CFR 1903.15...
Willful violation $9,639 $134,937 (d)(1)
Repeat violation NA $134,937 (d)(2)
Serious violation  NA   $13,494 (d)(3)
Other than serious violation NA  $13,494 (d)(4)
Failure to abate  NA  $13,494 (d)(5)
OSHA posting requirement NA  $13,494 (d)(6)

See the announcement in the January 15 Federal Register.

Since the passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, OSHA has been authorized to raise civil penalties for work safety violations annually to match inflation. Before the 2015 Act, OSHA was exempted from the requirement to raise penalties on an annual basis.

10 Most Common OSHA Citations

OSHA recently released its annual list of the top 10 most-cited safety Standards in fiscal year 2019.  
 
The list of the most commonly cited violations does not change much from year to year, but remains an informative tool that safety professionals can use to identify hazards at their own facilities. The OSHA Top 10 list doesn’t cover every important workplace hazard, but it does provide an overview of the most common and costly violations for American employers.
 
Top OSHA safety violation citations
 

New OSHA Safety Courses

Check out Lion.com/OSHA to find safety training to inform and protect your workforce.

From 10-hour training for general industry workers to HazComHAZWOPER, and more, Lion offers courses that are informative and easy-to-use. 

The latest new courses include:

Tags: OSHA fines, OSHA penalties, safety fines, top 10 OSHA violations, top 10 safety violations

Find a Post

Compliance Archives

Lion - Quotes

Given the choice, I would do all coursework this way. In-person courses go very fast without the opportunity to pause or repeat anything.

Ellen Pelton

Chemical Laboratory Manager

I have over 26 years of environmental compliance experience, and it has been some time since I have attended an environmental regulations workshop. I attended this course as preparation for EHS Audits for my six plants, and it was exactly what I was looking for.

Frank Sizemore

Director of Regulatory Affairs

The instructor was very engaging and helped less experienced people understand the concepts.

Steve Gall

Safety Leader

Lion is at the top of the industry in compliance training. Course content and structure are updated frequently to make annual re-training enjoyable. I like that Lion has experts that I can contact for 1 year after the training.

Caroline Froning

Plant Chemist

I had a positive experience utilizing this educational program. It was very informative, convenient, and rewarding from a career perspective.

John Gratacos

Logistics Manager

The instructor was probably the best I ever had! He made the class enjoyable, was humorous at times, and very knowledgeable.

Mary Sue Michon

Environmental Administrator

Excellent. I learned more in two days with Lion than at a 5-day program I took with another provider.

Francisco Gallardo

HES Technician

The instructor was great, explaining complex topics in terms that were easily understandable and answering questions clearly and thoroughly.

Brittany Holm

Lab Supervisor

Lion's course was superior to others I have taken in the past. Very clear in the presentation and the examples helped to explain the content presented.

George Bersik

Hazardous Waste Professional

This is a very informative training compared to others. It covers everything I expect to learn and even a lot of new things.

Quatama Jackson

Waste Management Professional

Download Our Latest Whitepaper

Spot and correct 4 of the most common universal waste errors before they result in a notice of violation during a Federal or state inspection.

Latest Whitepaper

By submitting your phone number, you agree to receive recurring marketing and training text messages. Consent to receive text messages is not required for any purchases. Text STOP at any time to cancel. Message and data rates may apply. View our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.