Increased HIOSH Penalties, January 15, 2021
January 14, 2021 – Starting January 15, 2021, HIOSH will apply the following new penalty system to penalties issued on and after January 15, 2021. For more information on the penalties see the OSHA Enforcement Memo: https://www.osha.gov/memos/2021-01-11/2021-annual-adjustments-osha-civil-penalties
Minimum and Maximum Penalty Amounts.
Table 1 summarizes the minimum and maximum amounts for proposed civil penalties:
Table 1: Maximum and Minimum Amounts for Civil Penalties
| Table 1: Maximum and Minimum Amounts for Civil Penalties | ||
| Type of Violation | Penalty Minimum | Penalty Maximum |
| Serious | $964 per violation | $13,653 per violation |
| Other-Than-Serious | $0 per violation | $13,653 per violation |
| Willful or Repeated | $9,639 per violation | $136,532 per violation |
| Posting Requirements | $0 per violation | $13,653 per violation |
| Failure to Abate | N/A | $13,653 per day unabated beyond the abatement date [generally limited to 30 days maximum] |
Gravity Based Penalty Amounts.
The gravity of a violation is defined by the Gravity Based Penalty (GBP).
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- A high gravity violation is one with a GBP of $13,653.
- A moderate gravity violation is one with the GBP ranging from $7,802 to $11,703.
- A low gravity violation is one with a GBP of $5,851.
For serious violations, the GBP shall be assigned on the basis of the following scale in Table 2:
Severity + Probability = GBP
Table 2: Serious Violations
| Table 2: Serious Violations | ||||
| Severity | Probability | GBP | Gravity | OIS Code |
| High | Greater | $13,653 | High | 10 |
| Medium | Greater | $11,703 | Moderate | 5 |
| Low | Greater | $9,753 | Moderate | 5 |
| High | Lesser | $9,753 | Moderate | 5 |
| Medium | Lesser | $7,802 | Moderate | 5 |
| Low | Lesser | $5,851 | Low | 1 |
For other-than-serious violations, only minimal severity is assigned.
Table 3: Other-Than-Serious Violations
| Table 3: Other-Than-Serious Violations | ||
| Severity | Probability | GBP |
| Minimal | Greater | $1,000 – $13,653 |
| Minimal | Lesser | $0 |
Serious Willful Penalty Reductions.
The reduction factor for history shall be applied as usual. The reduction factors for size for serious willful violations shall be applied as shown in Tables 4:
Table 4: Serious Willful Penalty Reductions
| Table 4: Serious Willful Penalty Reductions | |
| Employees | Percent reduction |
| 10 or fewer | 80 |
| 11-20 | 60 |
| 21-30 | 50 |
| 31-40 | 40 |
| 41-50 | 30 |
| 51-100 | 20 |
| 101-250 | 10 |
| 251 or more | 0 |
If you have any questions regarding the above, please contact HIOSH at (808) 586 – 9116.
The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Inflation Adjustment Act) and adopted by HIOSH 396, HRS requires HIOSH to annually adjust its civil monetary penalty levels for inflation no later than January 15 of each year. Adjustments are made by issuing a final rule issued by Federal OSHA that is effective on its date of publication in the Federal Register. HIOSH penalty law can, Act 126 signed July 10, 2017 can be found here: https://labor.hawaii.gov/hiosh/files/2017/12/ACT-126.pdf
