The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has raised its civil penalties for 2020 by approximately 1.8 percent.

 

OSHA’s new penalty increases for workplace safety and health violations include:

• For a willful violation, in which an employer knowingly failed to comply with an OSHA standard or demonstrated a plain indifference for employee safety, the minimum penalty increases from $9,472 to $9,639 and the maximum penalty increases from $132,598 to $134,937;
   
• For each repeated violation for an identical or substantially similar violation previously cited by the agency, the penalty ceiling rises from $132,598 to $134,937;
   
• For each serious violation for workplace hazards that could cause an accident or illness that would most likely result in death or serious physical harm, the maximum penalty increases from $13,260 to $13,494;
   
• For each other-than-serious violation, the maximum penalty increases from $13,260 to $13,494;
   
• For each failure to correct violation, the maximum penalty increases from $13,260 to $13,494; and
   
• For each posting requirement violation, the maximum penalty increases from $13,260 to $13,494.

The new penalty amounts take effect immediately.