OSHA Defense Report says that the “Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015,” gives OSHA the green light to increase penalty amounts to catch up with cost of living adjustments since the last time OSHA’s civil penalties were raised (1990).
The changes would bring the maximum fines to $12,000 for a Serious Violation and $120,000 for a Repeat or Willful violation.
I’d like to think that the safety of employees & the public was enough to ensure compliance, but the reality is that even these fine structures are probably too LOW to motivate recalcitrant employers.
