The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has updated its guidance on penalty and debt collection procedures in the Field Operations Manual (FOM), the agency announced July 14.
The agency said the updates would minimize the burden on small businesses and increase prompt hazard abatement.
“All employers should be offered the opportunity to comply with regulations that help maintain a safe working environment,” Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said in an agency statement. “Small employers who are working in good faith to comply with complex federal laws should not face the same penalties as large employers with abundant resources. By lowering penalties on small employers, we are supporting the entrepreneurs that drive our economy and giving them the tools they need to keep our workers safe and healthy on the job while keeping them accountable.”
The new policy, outlined in the Penalties and Debt Collection section of the FOM, increases penalty reductions for small employers, making it easier for small businesses to devote resources to compliance and hazard abatement.
A penalty reduction level of 70%, which was previously only available for businesses with 10 or fewer employees, for example, will now be expanded to include companies that employ up to 25 employees. The Penalties and Debt Collection revisions also include new guidelines for a 15% penalty reduction for employers that immediately take steps to address or correct a hazard.
The updated policy also expands the penalty reduction for employers without a history of serious, willful, repeat, or failure-to-abate OSHA violations. Under the new policy, employers that have never been inspected by federal OSHA or an OSHA State Plan, as well as employers that have been inspected in the previous five years and had no serious, willful, or failure-to-abate violations, are eligible for a 20% penalty reduction.
The new policies are effective immediately. However, penalties issued before July 14 will remain under the previous penalty structure.
Longtime ASSP member earns ‘Prevention through Design’ Award
Bruce Lyon, a longtime member of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), has received the 2025 Prevention through Design (PtD) Award, the ASSP announced July 14.
The award recognizes a workplace safety and health professional, team, or organization that demonstrates outstanding leadership in eliminating or reducing workplace hazards through design or redesign efforts, contributing to the body of knowledge that enables prevention through design solutions.
Lyon is an ASSP fellow and vice president and director of risk management services for Brown & Brown Inc., a commercial insurance brokerage firm. He chairs and vice-chairs key American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/ASSP risk management and prevention through design committees and previously advised on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 31000 standards.
“Bruce specializes in risk assessment and risk management and has greatly elevated the use of safety standards and prevention through design principles around the world,” ASSP President Linda Tapp said in a statement.
“Bruce has been instrumental in keeping prevention through design principles in the forefront of safety efforts. His dedication to risk mitigation and worker safety has certainly saved countless lives.”