Civil penalties for violations of Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards increased by 2% this year. As of Jan. 2, the maximum penalties for serious or other-than-serious violations increased to $12,934.
Failing to correct violations will also cost $12,934 per day for each day a company fails to address the issue. Willful and repeat violations will incur penalties of $129,336 per violation.
The increase is in accordance with the Department of Labor’s 2015 Inflation Adjustment Act (the law’s unwieldy full name is the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015).
In 2016, OSHA increased penalties for safety violations for the first time since 1990, raising fines by 78% to “modernize some penalties that have long lost ground to inflation,” according to DOL. Following the catch-up increase two years ago, adjustments have been based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers.
Danielle Andrus was previously the managing editor for Colorado Builder, and is currently Editor for the Journal of Financial Planning.
