OSHA to unbundle citations, seeking greater compliance, fining over safety rules

Seeking to improve accountability among employers who repeatedly violate workplace safety and health rules, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will change the way it cites companies to ensure greater compliance.

OSHA says its administrators will now have the authority to cite certain types of violations as “instance-by-instance citations” for cases where the agency identifies “high-gravity” serious violations of OSHA standards specific to certain conditions where the language of the rule supports a citation for each instance of non-compliance.

The agency said in a statement that it is also discouraging its administrators not to group violations, “and instead cite them separately to more effectively encourage employers to comply.”

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