The US federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has revised portions of its national enforcement policies, reducing penalties for employers that take prompt action to correct identified violations, and raising the ceiling for special small business penalty reductions from employers with 10 or fewer employees to those with 25 or fewer employees. These revisions appear in Chapter 6 (Penalties and Debt Collection) of OSHA’s Field Operations Manual (FOM). The remainder of this note discusses these revisions.
What is OSHA’s FOM?
The FOM presents a formal “reference document for field personnel, providing enforcement policies and procedures in conducting OSHA investigations.” The FOM dates back to at least 1989, and OSHA has issued revisions periodically since then, most recently this July 2. The current FOM contains 17 chapters:
- Chapter 1. Introduction
- Chapter 2. Program Planning
- Chapter 3. Inspection Procedures
- Chapter 4. Violations
- Chapter 5. Case File Preparation and Documentation
- Chapter 6. Penalties and Debt Collection
- Chapter 7. Post-Citation Procedures and Abatement Verification
- Chapter 8. Settlements
- Chapter 9. Complaint and Referral Processing
- Chapter 10. Industry Sectors
- Chapter 11. Imminent Danger, Fatality, Catastrophe, and Emergency Response
- Chapter 12. Specialized Inspection Procedures
- Chapter 13. Federal Agency Field Activities
- Chapter 14. Health Inspection Enforcement Policy
- Chapter 15. Legal Issues
- Chapter 16. Disclosure Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
- Chapter 17. Preemption By Other Agencies
The latest revisions appear in Chapter 6.
How are Penalties and Debt Collection policies changing
OSHA has made the following changes to Chapter 6 (Penalties and Debt Collection), in order to “make it easier for employers – especially small businesses – to fix hazards quickly and stay in compliance.” More specifically:
- Changes to application of penalty adjustment factors
The FOM provides guidance to OSHA enforcement personnel for when and how penalty amounts for noncompliance can – or “must” or “should” – be adjusted. The latest revisions expand this flexibility:
- History adjustments to reflect a specific employer’s compliance history (of demonstrated compliance or non-compliance over last 5 years, e.g., based on prior inspections or enforcement) have been expanded from maximum 10% to 20% up or down based on good history or history that includes a finalized high-gravity violation
- Size adjustments to reflect the employer’s size have expanded
- to allow adjustment of up to 80% for willful or serious violations (maximum 70% adjustment are retained for serious and other-than-serious)
- the “small” employer size category has been expanded
- for most violations to 1-25 employees (by adding 11-25 employees from former next-smallest size category offering up to 60% reduction)
- for willful violations to 1-20 employees (by adding 11-20 employees from former next-smallest size category offering up to 60% reduction)
- Good faith adjustments of up to 25% are no longer available if any willful or failure-to-abate violations have been found in concurrent inspections (unavailability if such violations are found in the same inspection also continue)
- “Quick Fix” adjustments – expand/clarify availability of this 15% adjustment from only if immediate during an inspection to include “as soon as possible” thereafter, including 5 days if abatement requires “more complex abatement actions such as purchase of materials, fabrication of parts, training, etc”, and up 10 15 days I parts must be ordered and shipped
- Re-sequence formula for applying adjustments – to Size, Good Faith, History, and Quick Fix; from History, Good Faith, Quick Fix and Size
- Revise threshold penalty amount for “Significant Enforcement Actions” by eliminating $180,000 threshold and relying exclusively on OSHA’s “Procedures for Significant and Novel Enforcement Cases” which includes formulas and amounts of at least $250,000
- Collecting penalty dollars due OSHA
The latest changes keep most penalty collection and penalty-related debt collection procedures unchanged, but do add a provision for the Solicitor of the Department Labor to attempt to collect unpaid balances through federal district court litigation. Procedures for debt collection by the US Department of Treasury remain unchanged.
Now what?
The revised penalty and debt collection policies and procedures apply to penalties issued on or after July 14, 2025.
Self-Assessment Checklist
Are any of the organization's workplaces subject to OSHA standards?
If so, is the organization prepared to respond if OSHA issues a citation for noncompliance (typically after an inspection)?
Where Can I Go For More Information?
- OSHA –
- Field Operations Manual (CPL 02-00-164) (revised July 2, 2025)
- FOM Chapter 6 (revised July 2, 2025)
About the Author
Jon Elliott is President of Touchstone Environmental and has been a major contributor to STP’s product range for over 30 years.
Mr. Elliott has a diverse educational background. In addition to his Juris Doctor (University of California, Boalt Hall School of Law, 1981), he holds a Master of Public Policy (Goldman School of Public Policy [GSPP], UC Berkeley, 1980), and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Princeton University, 1977).
Mr. Elliott is active in professional and community organizations. In addition, he is a past chairman of the Board of Directors of the GSPP Alumni Association, and past member of the Executive Committee of the State Bar of California's Environmental Law Section (including past chair of its Legislative Committee).
You may contact Mr. Elliott directly at: tei@ix.netcom.com