OSHA Penalties Increase for 2020

January 12, 2018

(Updated July 2020)

2020 OSHA Penalties: Here’s What You Need to Know

Warehouse, construction, maintenance, and public utilities businesses must stay up to date on OSHA regulations. That way, these businesses can understand OSHA violations and penalties — and take steps to prevent such issues from impacting their everyday operations.

What Are OSHA Violations and Penalties?

OSHA establishes workplace safety guidelines for businesses across all industries. If a company does not comply with these guidelines, it is subject to OSHA violations and penalties.

The best companies generally allocate significant time and resources to maximize on-the-job safety. In doing so, these businesses can keep their workers safe and prevent OSHA violations and penalties.

Companies that are proactive about workplace safety typically stay informed about changes to OSHA penalties, too.

Do OSHA Penalties Change?

OSHA’s goal is to ensure workers can perform everyday tasks safely. To achieve its goal, OSHA periodically updates its penalties. This may put increased pressure on employers to take steps to avoid OSHA violations and penalties. Best of all, it may result in a decline in workplace accidents, injuries, and fatalities nationwide.

A Closer Look at 2020 OSHA Penalties

In 2020, employers that knowingly do not comply with OSHA guidelines risk steep penalties.

OSHA raised its civil penalties by 1.8% year over year in 2020. Also, OSHA has the following penalties in place for workplace safety and health violations reported this year:

  • Willful Violation: Minimum penalty of $9,639 and maximum penalty of $134,937
  • Repeated Violation: Penalty ceiling of $134,937 for each repeated violation that is identical or substantially similar to one previously identified by OSHA
  • Serious Violation: Maximum penalty of $13,494 for any serious violation related to a workplace accident or injury that would result in death or severe physical harm
  • Other-Than-Serious Violation: Maximum penalty of $13,494
  • Failure to Correct a Violation: Maximum penalty of $13,494
  • Posting Requirement Violation: Maximum penalty of $13,494

Employers that don’t take safety standards and regulations seriously feel must clean up their internal processes and protocols. Otherwise, these employers risk OSHA penalties and violations, along with associated brand reputation damage, revenue losses, and other short- and long-term business issues.

How to Avoid OSHA Penalties and Violations

Even a single OSHA violation can put your entire business at risk of:

  • Lengthy legal procedures
  • Expensive audits/investigations
  • Company-wide shutdown
  • Negative PR

If you’re an employer in the United States, providing the most up-to-date and comprehensive training for workers is crucial for improving the safety of your workplace and reducing accidents. In fact, OSHA-compliant training can help deter investigations and penalties by equipping workers with the essential knowledge and skills they need to not only perform their tasks safely and comply with all relevant OSHA regulations.

Want Safety Training for Your Employees? AerialLiftCertification.com Can Help

At AerialLiftCertification.com, we want to do our part to help businesses avoid OSHA penalties and violations. Therefore, we offer extensive safety training programs designed to help businesses of all sizes comply with OSHA mandates.

By signing up for our workplace safety training program, you can teach your employees how to contribute to a safe, productive work environment. Our program provides insights into the latest OSHA guidelines, and it enables workers to get the information they need to maximize on-the-job safety. To learn more or to sign up for our program, please contact us online or call us today at (888) 278-8896.

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