2021 OSHA Fines/Updates
About
Congress passed the Federal Civil Penalties Act Improvements Act in 2015 to increase the effectiveness of monetary penalties and to maintain their deterrent effect. Based on 2021 cost-of-living adjustments, the U.S. Department of Labor has announced the civil penalty amount adjustments for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Penalties
In 2021, OSHA has increased the maximum penalties for serious and other-than-serious violations from $13,494 per violation to $13,653 per violation. Maximum penalties for willful or repeated violations increased from $134,937 per violation to $136,532 per violation. Posting requirement penalties have increased to $13,653 per violation. Additionally,failure to abate penalties have increased to $13,653 per day beyond the abatement date.
Summary
The Department of Labor Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Annual Adjustments for 2021 final rule goes into effect beginning on January 15, 2021. The increased penalty levels apply to any penalties accessed after January 15, 2021. The memo and additional information regarding this rule can be found at https://www.osha.gov/memos/2021-01-11/2021-annual-adjustments-osha-civil-penalties.
If you have any questions or if we can assist you on your OSHA compliance needs please feel free to reach out to our Loss Control Department.
Sincerely,
AlaCOMP Loss Control Department