• OSHA was created to address worker and workplace safety in order to reduce the number of occupational deaths and disabilities.ambulance background image by Stasys Eidiejus from Fotolia.com
  
  In 1970, Congress reviewed statistics involving the American work force and found that more than 14,000 worker deaths were caused by workplace accidents, almost 2.5 million workers were disabled, and an estimated 300,000 workers suffered from occupational diseases. Ten times as many work days were lost from job-related injuries as from labor strikes. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created in 1970 as part of the U.S. Department of Labor to address public and government concerns related to worker safety and employers who did little to protect their employees.
  
  

OSHA Administrative Penalties

• A majority of OSHA's penalties have been in place since the agency's inception in 1970. But the relatively mild penalties no longer give businesses, industries and companies a reason to upgrade equipment, change policies related to worker and environmental safety, or make changes that will decrease occupational injury, disease and death. Administrative penalty adjustments are being made, which could bring about better workplace oversight.
  
  

Severe Violator Enforcement Program

• OSHA's severe violator enforcement program went into effect in June 2010. Employers and industries with multiple charges for repeated workplace and occupational health and safety violations will see increased inspections. Violators will be made public through press releases and OSHA website postings as they are added to the program. Fines will be calculated serially, with a potential cost to employers and industries of up to 50 percent more than current penalties.
  
  

Willful Employer Violations

• If federal compliance officers, following inspections and other information gathering, reveal that an employer or industry knowingly violates OSHA regulations or written industry standards related to worker and workplace safety, penalties between $5,000 to $70,000 can be levied.
  
  

Failure to Abate

• If an employer or industry does not correct health and safety violations by the date set by government regulators, civil penalties of up to $7,000 will be levied for each day the violation continues .