Employers Should Brace for a Big Impact from New OSHA Rules
Businesses that don’t prepare for the new OSHA guidelines could be facing increased scrutiny, as well as extra expenses.
This year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is expected to engage in a series of far-reaching regulatory changes from increased fines to stepped-up inspections that could affect countless numbers of companies of all sizes. Businesses that don’t prepare for them now could be facing increased scrutiny, as well as extra expenses.
One recent change will hit some businesses in the wallet: the first increase in OSHA fines since 1990. In late 2015, OSHA was authorized to increase the monetary level of its system of fines, and the agency wasted no time in taking advantage of its newfound freedom. Effective August 1, OSHA raised fines by nearly 80%, a sum that many companies, already battered by an up-and-down economy, will find onerous.