OSHA Expands Enforcement Program for Severe, Repeated Violations

Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it was expanding the Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP). Under the Obama Administration starting in 2010, the program would focus on industries and/or employers that consistently violated only certain safety and health standards. When those industries or employers were identified the SVEP would then concentrate “resources on inspecting [those] employers that have demonstrated indifference to their OSH Act obligations by committing willful, repeated, or failure-to-abate violations.” With this latest development, the program will now cover “violations of all hazards and OSHA standards and will continue to focus on repeat offenders in all industries.”

The updated, specific criteria for the SVEP include:

• Program placement for employers with citations for at least two willful or repeated 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. In the past, removal could occur three years after the final order date.
• Employers' ability to reduce time spent in the program to two years if they consent to an enhanced settlement agreement that includes use of a safety and health management system with seven basic elements in OSHA's Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs. 

The SVEP changes took effect on September 15 and will remain until “canceled or superseded” at OSHA’s discretion.

Click here to review OSHA’s press release and here to review OSHA’s instruction notice. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.