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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

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