OSHA Raises Penalties to Keep Pace with Inflation

By Steve Donovan on Feb 21, 2023
1 min read 2 Comments

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The price tag for workplace accidents is getting a big cost-of-living bump. OSHA has increased its fine structure for jobsite health and safety violations every year since 2016, but this year the federal agency made the largest boost in its maximum civil penalties in eight years.

Maximum Fine for Health & Safety Violation Increase for 2023

In January, OSHA announced that it is increasing the maximum fine for health and safety violations by 7.75%, upping the penalty rate for “serious and other-than-serious” violations from $14,502 in 2022 to $15,625 in 2023. The penalty for “willful or repeated violations” increased from $145,027 in 2022 to $156,259 this year.

Annual Cost of Living Fee Adjustments

The law requires all federal agencies to make annual cost-of-living adjustments to penalty fee maximums. The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 calls for civil monetary penalties to keep pace with inflation so that they remain an effective deterrent to standards violations.

OSHA penalties are based on different types of violations and how severe they are. All OSHA violations – and the fines that come with them – can be difficult to anticipate if businesses aren’t well-versed in the agency’s requirements. Risk management expertise, which Axcet offers its clients, can save small businesses from costly exposure to workplace accidents and their related fines.

Axcet's experts recommend that companies develop and follow policies and procedures to keep the workplace safe and eliminate the threat of hefty fines. Axcet's knowledgeable and experienced risk management team can help identify and correct job site risks so OSHA's cost-of-living fine increases never become a problem.