The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the body that is authorized to regulate and enforce 
workplace safety in the United States. They conduct periodic OSHA inspections at work and businesses sites. Also, an employee safety issue or complaint may also result in an OSHA inspection. OSHA inspections may detect violations that range from mild to extremely hazardous, this is in accordance with the OSHA codes. Specifically, OSHA violations can be categorized into six categories, each one comes with either a mandatory or recommended penalty.
Serious violations
OSHA issues a serious violation when an employer knows of or is required to know of a scenario that has a possible chance of causing serious injury or death, but does not correct it. The penalties on such serious violations can differ based on the seriousness of the particular violation. The penalties can also be adjusted based on the employer’s prior history, good faith of the employer and the size of the business.
Failure to abate previous violation
Whenever an employer gets a violation citation, it consists of a date by which the employer is required to rectify the issue or situation. However, if the employer fails to do the needful till the specified date, it may be eligible for a fine of $7,000 per day from the specified day till the condition is resolved.
Repeat Violations
If an employer is found guilty of a violation that is similar or identical to the one that the employer had been cited for in the previous OSHA inspection, OSHA inspectors might cite the employer for a repeat violation and can impose a maximum fine of $70,000 for the repeated violation.
Other-than-serious-violations
Other-than-serious-violation is considered to be the violations of OSHA rules that would not usually cause serious injury or death; however, is related to employee health or job safety. $7,000 is the maximum penalty for every such violation, although the inspectors can choose to reduce or not impose such a fine. If an employer is unable to provide copies of safety regulations and fails to post required documents in work areas, then it may be considered as other-than-serious-OSHA violation.
De Minimis Violations
A de menimis violation has no direct effect on the health or safety of anyone and is a technical violation of OSHA rules. Usually, OSHA inspectors do not impose fine or penalty for such violations. It is the least serious class of OSHA violation.
Willful violations
Willful violations is the most serious category of OSHA violation. It refers to intentional violations of situations or OSHA regulations showing disregard for employee safety and health. The minimum penalties imposed on such offence is $5,000 and it can go up to $70,000. If an employee losses his/her life as a result of willful violation, then it becomes a criminal offence with a minimum penalty of $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations. An individual who is convicted of such violation can also be imprisoned for up to six months.
Get more in-depth knowledge on OSHA citations and how you can prevent wrongfully issued OSHA citations by attending this session by expert speaker Zach Jones who will take you through the citation process and understand the steps to be taken to mitigate, defeat and avoid an OSHA citation, especially when that citation is issued wrongfully.
