OSHA fines rise again on inflation adjustments

Civil penalties assessed by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for workplace safety violations will again rise to adjust for inflation in 2019.

OSHA and other federal agencies were directed to revisit their civil monetary penalties by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. The statute featured a provision called the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 to amend the 1990 version of the law to require all agencies covered by the statute to update penalties, which allowed OSHA to increase its fines by up to 78% as of Aug. 1, 2016, and adjust these fines annually to account for inflation.

The new maximum penalties, calculated based on the Consumer Price Index from October 2017 to October 2018, will assess companies $132,598 for each willful and repeat violation, according to a 2019 final rule pre-published by the U.S. Department of Labor on Tuesday. Companies found by OSHA to have serious, other-than-serious or posting requirement violations will be fined $13,260 per violation.

The adjusted maximum penalty amounts will take effect upon official publication in the Federal Register.