OSHA Penalty & Record Keeping Changes

On January 23rd the Department of Labor released it’s 2019 Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Annual Adjustments. We recommend reading the article in its entirety but have included many of the OSHA Penalty & Record Keeping Changes below.

OSHA Penalties Increased Due To Inflation

It’s rarely enjoyable when citation amounts increase, but in OSHA’s defense, there had not been an adjustment for inflation since 1990 until only a few years ago. The article announced the following changes in citation amount:

For serious and non-serious violations, maximum civil penalties are now $13,260.

(Previously $12,934)

For willful violations, the maximum civil penalties are now $132,598.

(Previously $129,336)

For repeated violations, maximum civil penalties are now $132,598.

(Previously $129,336)

For violations of the OSHA posting requirement, penalties are now $13,260.

(Previously $12,934)

For failure to abate violations, penalties are now $13,260 per day beyond the abatement date.

(Previously $12,934)

Electronic Record keeping changes

The most divisive change came in form of Recording keeping requirements for forms 300 and 301. These forms, designed for injury and illness reporting, were previously required to be filed annually by all companies. With the new changes, companies with 250 or more employees no longer are required to submit the forms electronically. All companies are still required to maintain these forms internally on each job site.

If you would like more detail on the most recent changes or OSHA requirements in general, please reach out to FDRsafety.