New enforcement procedures target employers who ignore OSHA standards

Added July 19th, 2010

To address urgent safety and health problems facing Americans in the workplace, OSHA is implementing a new Severe Violator Enforcement Program and increasing civil penalty amounts. Announced in an April 22 news release, the SVEP, which will go into effect by the beginning of June, is intended to focus OSHA enforcement resources on employers who endanger workers by repeatedly demonstrating indifference to their responsibilities under the law. This supplemental enforcement tool includes increased OSHA inspections in these worksites, mandatory OSHA follow-up inspections, and inspections of other worksites of the same employer where similar hazards and deficiencies may be present. The penalty changes will increase the overall dollar amount of all penalties while maintaining OSHA’s policy of reducing penalties for those employers acting in good faith.

For more information, see the SVEP Directive