Lately, the typical first-time OSHA citations at companies I've worked with have ranged from $1775 to $4900 per issue, averaging around $3000 each. The maximum OSHA can charge for citations will increase by 78 percent on August 1, 2016. OSHA has not yet released guidance to their field staff on how to implement this change. At this point we can only wonder whether typical penalties will remain similar or will increase. "If average citation amounts are raised by 78 percent, we should expect to see typical citations increase from $3000 each to around $5300 each".

Bottom Line: Let's be diligent in moving our safety programs forward. It's not wise to put-off making safety improvements that we know OSHA requires (even when a fix is expensive or takes significant effort). We know how make our plants free of OSHA violations -it takes some focused effort. Don't let an OSHA audit result in your company owing tens of thousands of dollars in citations for items we already knew needed to be addressed.

The following article was posted in the July 1 OSHA QuickTakes Newsletter:

Maximum penalties for OSHA violations are set to increase for the first time since 1990 as part of overall federal penalty adjustments mandated by Congress last year. The increases were announced Thursday by the Department of Labor, which issued two interim rules covering penalty adjustments for several DOL agencies, including OSHA, the Mine Safety and Health Administration and Wage and Hour Division.

OSHA's new penalty levels will take effect after Aug. 1, when the maximum penalty for serious violations will rise from $7,000 to $12,471. The maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations will increase from $70,000 to $124,709. Any citations issued by OSHA after Aug. 1 will be subject to the new penalties if the related violations occurred after November 2, 2015. OSHA will provide guidance to field staff on the implementation of the new penalties by Aug. 1.