{"id":26168,"date":"2016-08-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buildingreports.flywheelsites.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/22\/osha-penalties-skyrocket-80-with-changes-effective-august-1-2016\/"},"modified":"2016-08-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-22T00:00:00","slug":"osha-penalties-skyrocket-80-with-changes-effective-august-1-2016","status":"publish","type":"blog_post","link":"https:\/\/www2.buildingreports.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/22\/osha-penalties-skyrocket-80-with-changes-effective-august-1-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"OSHA Penalties Skyrocket 80% with Changes Effective August 1, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nEffective August 1st (2016), companies with more than 250 employees can expect increased scrutiny and fines under OSHA’s new enforcement and penalty policies<\/a>. Area directors from OSHA can offer companies with fewer than 250 employees a fine reduction of 20%.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nUnder the new guidelines, fines for incidents increased by 80% to a maximum of <\/span>$124,709 per citation. I<\/span>f multiple employees are involved – and the violation is deemed egregious by OSHA – the offending company can be cited for each<\/em> employee at the full $124,709 per citation. The penalty for willful and\/or repeat violations is now set at <\/span>$12,470, and the timeframe for classifying a violation as willful or repeat was expanded by two years, from a 3-year period to 5 years.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

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\nOSHA inspectors are also working under new directives, including a quota-like requirement for inspections and a points system for rating violations. Under the new scoring system the occurrence of violations rated as egregious is expected to increase.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAccording to a recent <\/span>webinar<\/a> hosted by BLR given by attorney <\/span>Adele Abrams, there are several things employers need to determine to be prepared for an OSHA inspection:<\/span>\n<\/p>\n