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OSHA will implement a Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) within the next 45 days, with an increase in civil penalty amounts also planned in the next several months. The new SVEP program focuses OSHA’s limited enforcement resources on employers who exhibit indifference to worker safety by consistently failing to comply with OSHA rules. An employer who qualifies for SVEP will find its worksite subject to increased inspections, which would extend to other worksites owned by the employer where similar violations might exist, and mandatory follow-up inspections of all worksites involved.
On the penalty front, Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, issued a memorandum announcing administrative changes to OSHA’s penalty calculation system. An OSHA work group, convened last year, concluded that a penalty increase would more effectively deter OSHA violations. It is expected that the average penalty for a serious violation will increase to $3,000-$4,000 (from the current $1,000), which would give SVEP additional muscle. OSHA plans to conduct extensive outreach as it moves toward rollout of the new penalty policy.
“Although we are making significant adjustments in our penalty policy within the tight constraints of our law, this administrative effort is no substitute for the meaningful and substantial penalty changes included in [the Protecting America’s Workers Act] PAWA,” Michaels said. PAWA, if passed, would increase OSHA penalties to $12,000 for a serious violation and $250,000 for a willful violation (an increase from $7,000 and $70,000, respectively). The Act would tie future penalty increases to inflation.
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