Repeat Offenders Beware: Severe Violator Enforcement Program Broadens Scope

After all, no employer wants to be cited for safety violations or, worse yet, placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program. As stated above, this program has become much broader than it was in the past.

The program, which will continue to focus on repeat offenders, now includes violations of all hazards and standards. Before, an employer could only be placed in the program for failing to meet a limited number of standards.

Those changes will broaden the program’s scope and allow other industries to fall within its parameters. Other changes to the program include:

• Program placement for employers with citations for at least two willful or repeat violations or who receive failure-to-abate notices based on the presence of high-gravity serious violations
• Follow-up or referral inspections made one year – but not longer than two years – after the final order
• Potential removal from the Severe Violator Enforcement Program three years after the date of receiving verification that the employer has abated all program-related hazards, and
• Employers can reduce time spent in the program to two years if they consent to an enhanced settlement agreement that includes a safety and health management system with seven basic elements in OSHA’s Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs.

In addition to being included on a public list of severe violators, employers are subject to follow-up inspections.

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