Las Vegas, NV January 17, 2020
The
penalties for safety violations levied by the Nevada Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) against employers who are not in compliance have
gone up, effective January 15. As a result of Senate Bill 40 - passed during
Nevada’s 2019 Legislative session - the Division of Industrial Relations now
adopts penalties in alignment with those imposed by the federal Department of
Labor’s OSHA’s enforcement program. The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation
Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 requires the Department of Labor to
annually evaluate its civil monetary penalties to adjust for inflation no later
than January 15 of each year.
As
a result, Nevada OSHA’s administrative penalties will increase by 1.8%,
effective immediately for any penalty assessed on or after January 15, 2020,
regardless of when the inspection was opened. Nevada
OSHA’s penalties for violations of the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health
Act are as follows:
- For willful violations,
where Nevada OSHA demonstrates that an employer knowingly failed to comply
with an OSHA standard or demonstrated a plain indifference for employee
safety, the minimum penalty increases from $9,472 to $9,639 and the
maximum penalty increases from $132,598 to $134,937;
- For repeated violations, maximum
penalties will increase from $132,598 to $134,937;
- Penalties for serious violations,
where workplace hazards that could cause an injury or illness that would
most likely result in death or serious physical harm, the maximum penalty
increases from $13,260 to $13,494;
- For each other-than-serious
violation, the maximum penalty increases from $13,260 to $13,494;
- In instances where employers were
previously cited and failed to correct violations, the maximum penalty
increases from $13,260 to $13,494; and
- For each posting requirement
violation, the maximum penalty increases from $13,260 to $13,494.
About the Division of
Industrial Relations:
The
Nevada Division of Industrial Relations (DIR) is the principal regulatory
agency responsible for workplace safety and worker protections in the state of
Nevada. Comprised of five sections
–Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Worker’s Compensation Section,
Mechanical Compliance Section, Mine Safety and Training Section, and the Safety
Consultation and Training Section – DIR works to protect Nevada’s working men
and women and provides a broad scope of training and support to the regulated
community. For more information please
visit http://dir.nv.gov.
About Nevada OSHA:
Nevada
OSHA operates as an approved state program as defined by section 18 of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and is required by the Act to
operate in a manner that is at least as effective as the federal OSHA
enforcement program. Operating out of
district offices in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada OSHA conducts inspections and
investigations intended to identify hazardous conditions which could harm
Nevada’s workers and enforces state and federal laws protecting the state’s
workers. From July 2018 to June 2019, Nevada OSHA conducted over 1,060
inspections, issuing an average of 1.4 serious violations per inspection. The Nevada State
Plan, at the time of publication of this media release, is funded by a grant of
$1,486,600 federal funds, which constitutes 50 percent of the State Plan
budget. Fifty percent, or $1,486,600 of the State Plan budget, is financed
through non-governmental sources. For more information visit http://dir.nv.gov/OSHA/home.
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