Green Manufacturer - July/August 2010

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Washington, D.C., in an effort to address urgent safety and health problems facing Americans in the workplace, has implemented a new Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) and increasing civil penalty amounts.

“For many employers, investing in
job safety happens only when they have
adequate incentives to comply with
OSHA’s requirements,” said Assistant
Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David
Michaels. “Higher penalties and more
aggressive, targeted enforcement will
provide a greater deterrent and further
encourage these employers to furnish
safe and healthy workplaces for their
employees.”
SVEP is intended to focus OSHA
enforcement resources on recalcitrant
employers who endanger workers by
demonstrating indifference to their re-
sponsibilities under the law. This sup-
plemental enforcement tool includes
increased OSHA inspections in these
work sites, including mandatory OSHA
follow-up inspections, and inspections
of other work sites of the same em-
ployer where similar hazards and defi-
ciencies may be present. SVEP became
effective June 18.

In 2009, OSHA assembled a work group to evaluate its penalty policies and found currently assessed penalties are too low to have an adequate deterrent effect. Based on the group’s findings and recommendations, several administrative changes to the penalty calculation system, outlined in the agency’s field operations manual, are being made. These administrative enhancements will become effective in the next several months.

The penalty changes will increase the overall dollar amount of all penalties while maintaining OSHA’s policy of reducing penalties for small employers and those acting in good faith.

The average penalty for a serious violation—one capable of causing death or serious physical harm—will increase from about $1,000 to an average $3,000 to $4,000. The current maximum penalty for a serious violation is only $7,000, and the maximum penalty for a willful violation is $70,000. The Protecting America’s Workers Act would raise these penalties, for the first time since 1990, to $12,000 and $250,000, respectively.