OSHA's Severe Violators Enforcement Program Now in Effect

On Friday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched its Severe Violators Enforcement Program (SVEP), an initiative that “focuses enforcement efforts on employers who willfully and repeatedly endanger workers by exposing them to serious hazards.” The agency issued a directive in April that outlined the SVEP’s procedures and enforcement actions against employers that are found to have committed willful, repeat, and failure-to-abate violations of the OSH Act in one or more of the following circumstances: (1) a fatality or catastrophe situation; (2) in industry operations or processes that expose employees to the most severe occupational hazards and those identified as “high-emphasis hazards,” as defined in the SVEP; (3) exposing employees to hazards related to the potential release of a highly hazardous chemical; or (4) all egregious enforcement actions.

Such enhanced enforcement actions in severe violator cases include mandatory follow-up inspections, increased company/corporate awareness of OSHA enforcement, corporate-wide agreements where appropriate, enhanced settlement provisions, and federal court enforcement. The SVEP replaces the agency’s Enhanced Enforcement Program (EEP).

According to the SVEP’s Executive Summary, the most significant differences between the EEP and the SVEP are that the SVEP:

  • Targets high-emphasis hazards, which include fall hazards and specific hazards identified from selected National Emphasis Programs;
  • Considers nationwide inspections of related workplaces/worksites “critical” inspections for the purpose of 29 CFR §1908.7(b)(2)(iv); and
  • Creates a nationwide referral procedure for regions and state plan states.

OSHA will maintain a SVEP log on its inspections. If an employer enters into a formal or informal settlement with OSHA over a citation in which the SVEP designation is deleted, or if an administrative law judge or court decides that the employer citation should be vacated, the entry on the SVEP log will be lined-out and the SVEP designation will be removed from the establishment’s Internet Inspection Detail summary.

Appendix B to the SVEP directive provides guidance to inspectors for assessing whether to inspect other worksites if an organization has been designated a severe violator enforcement case. The guidance explains that “it must first be determined whether compliance problems and issues found during the initial SVEP inspection are localized or are likely to exist at other, similar facilities owned and operated by that employer.” To that end, the guidance provides a list of questions to help the inspector determine the extent of the compliance problems and identify the company structure.

Photo credit:  MBPHOTO, INC.

Information contained in this publication is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion, nor is it a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney.