Washington — The maximum penalty for a “willful” or “repeat” OSHA violation has increased to $156,259 after the agency, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and other Department of Labor agencies automatically increased civil penalty amounts to adjust for inflation.

Effective Jan. 17, the increase is approximately 7.7%. 

For OSHA, the increase for willful and repeat violations is up from $145,027 in fiscal year 2022. The minimum fine for a willful violation is $11,162 – up from $10,360. The maximum fine for serious, other-than-serious, failure-to-correct and posting-requirement violations increases to $15,625 from $14,502. 

MSHA’s maximum penalty for a flagrant violation increases to $313,790 from $291,234.

Under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, DOL is required to adjust civil penalty levels for inflation by Jan. 15 each year. However, that date falls on a Sunday this year, and Jan. 16 is a federal holiday. DOL determines yearly adjustment rates via the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers. 

Source: https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/23428-osha-and-other-dol-agencies-increase-civil-penalty-amounts