Nevada OSHA penalties increase for workplace safety violations
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Sun, 01/19/2020 - 3:32pm
The penalties for safety violations levied by the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration against employers who are not in compliance have gone up, effective Jan. 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 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 Jan. 15 of each year.
As a result, Nevada OSHA’s administrative penalties will increase by 1.8 percent, 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
— 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 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.
