OSHA Fines to Increase by 80%
After a quarter of a century, OSHA fines will be increasing under a provision signed by a congressional budget deal.
The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 exempted OSHA from increasing penalties to account for inflation. On November 2nd, President Barack Obama signed into law a new budget that contains an amendment that strikes the exemption.
Due to this change, OSHA has been directed to issue an interim rule which increases its penalties to account for current inflation levels. This change would raise proposed fines by 80 percent. This change in fines would mean the maximum penalty for a willful violation would rise to about $127,000 from the current $70,000.
OSHA must make this change before August 1, 2016 and they will also be allowed, for the first time, to adjust penalties levels based on inflated. The last time OSHA’s maximum penalty levels were increased was in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990.
From the National Safety Council’s Injury Facts
