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Penalty factors

OSHA assesses penalties with consideration to four factors:

  • The gravity of the violation;
  • Size of the employer’s business;
  • The good faith of the employer; and
  • The employer’s history of previous violations.

Gravity of the violation

The gravity of the violation is the primary consideration in determining penalty amounts. It is the basis for calculating the basic penalty for Serious and Other-Than-Serious violations. (Repeat and Willful violations can be based on the initial Serious or Other-Than-Serious gravity-based penalty but are multiplied by five to 10 times).

To determine the gravity of a violation, OSHA makes the following two assessments:

  • The severity of the injury or illness which could result from the alleged violation.
  • The probability that an injury or illness could occur as a result of the alleged violation.

After OSHA has determined the gravity and probability of a violation, a Gravity Based Penalty (GBP) is assessed based on a pre-determined range from OSHA. See the agency's latest "Annual Adjustments to OSHA Civil Penalties" memo for details.

Size of the employer

Once a base penalty has been calculated using the Gravity-Based Penalty system, OSHA may then assign a reduction based on certain factors, including size of the employer. The size adjustment factor allows for the following maximum penalty reductions:

  • 70 percent for employers with 1-10 employees
  • 60 percent for employers with 11-25 workers
  • 30 percent for employers with 26-100 workers
  • 10 percent for employers with 101-250 workers

Employers with more than 250 workers will not receive a penalty reduction for size. Note: “Size” of an employer is calculated on the basis of the maximum number of employees for an employer at all workplaces nationwide, including State Plan States, at any one time during the previous 12 months.

For violations that are Serious Willful, the following reductions are applied instead. These reductions help minimize the impact of large penalties for small employers with 50 or fewer employees. However, in no case shall the proposed penalty be less than the statutory minimum for these employers:

  • 80 percent for employers with 10 or fewer employees
  • 60 percent for employers with 11-20 employees
  • 50 percent for employers with 21-30 employees
  • 40 percent for employers with 31-40 employees
  • 30 percent for employers with 41-50 employees
  • 20 percent for employers with 51-100 employees
  • 10 percent for employers with 101-250 employees
  • 0 percent for employers with 251 or more employees

Good faith

There may be up to an additional 25 percent reduction for evidence that the employer is making a good faith effort to provide a safe and healthy workplace.

  • 25 percent for having a written and implemented safety and health program.
  • 15 percent for having a documented and effective safety and health program, but with more than only incidental deficiencies.

No good faith reduction is given to employers with no safety and health program or where a Willful violation is found.

Employer history

A 10 percent reduction in proposed penalties may be given if employers have not been cited by OSHA for any Serious, Willful, Repeat, or Failure-To-Abate violations in the past five years.

On the other hand, OSHA may assess up to a 10% increase in penalties (up to the statutory maximum) if employers have been cited for any high-gravity Serious, Willful, Repeat, or Failure-To-Abate violation in the past five years.