The U.S. Department of Labor has updated its guidance on penalty and debt collection procedures in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Field Operations Manual in an effort to minimize the burden on small businesses and increase prompt hazard abatement."All employers should be offered the opportunity to comply with regulations that help maintain a safe working environment,” said Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling. “Small employers who are working in good faith to comply with complex federal laws should not face the same penalties as large employers with abundant resources. By lowering penalties on small employers, we are supporting the entrepreneurs that drive our economy and giving them the tools they need to keep our workers safe and healthy on the job while keeping them accountable."
The new policy, outlined in the Penalties and Debt Collection section of OSHA’s Field Operations Manual, increases penalty reductions for small employers, making it easier for small businesses to invest resources in compliance and hazard abatement. For example, a penalty reduction level of 70%, which was previously only applicable for businesses with 10 or fewer employees, will now be expanded to include businesses who employ up to 25 employees. The revisions also include new guidelines for a 15% penalty reduction for employers who immediately take steps to address or correct a hazard.
Additionally, the updated policy expands the penalty reduction for employers without a history of serious, willful, repeat, or failure-to-abate OSHA violations. Under OSHA’s revised policy, employers who have never been inspected by federal OSHA or an OSHA State Plan, as well as employers who have been inspected in the previous five years and had no serious, willful, or failure-to-abate violations, are eligible for a 20% penalty reduction.
The new policies are effective immediately. Penalties issued before July 14, 2025, will remain under the previous penalty structure. Open investigations in which penalties have not yet been issued are covered by the new guidance.
OSHA retains the right to withhold penalty reductions where penalty adjustments do not advance the goals of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
President Trump’s budget request for fiscal year 2026 seeks to eliminate funding for the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, an agency that investigates major chemical accidents and makes recommendations for improving the safety of the chemical industry, workers, and communities. A budget document published by CSB explains that the expectation is that the agency will begin closing down during the current fiscal year. According to the budget document, the agency “duplicates substantial capabilities” in EPA and OSHA.CSB was authorized by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and became operational in 1998. According to CSB’s website, Congress designed the agency to be both nonregulatory and independent so that it could focus on improving the safety of workers, industry, and the public. A Senate legislative history document explains that one reason CSB should be independent in its duties is that agencies with both rulemaking and investigative functions are not likely to “be quick to acknowledge that existing requirements were insufficient to prevent an accident.”
“In fact, the investigations conducted by agencies with dual responsibilities tend to focus on violations of existing rules as the cause of the accident almost to the exclusion of other contributing factors for which no enforcement or compliance actions can be taken,” the legislative history says.
A video published by CSB last month focuses on the agency’s role in improving chemical industry safety. Since its creation, CSB has investigated nearly 180 chemical incidents that resulted in more than 200 fatalities, more than 1,300 serious injuries, and billions of dollars in damage to chemical facilities, nearby homes and businesses, and the environment, an agency news release states. CSB’s current annual budget is $14.4 million, and it employs fewer than 50 people.
“If the CSB’s many safety lessons have prevented at least one catastrophic chemical incident, the money saved by protecting lives, preventing serious injuries and damage to facilities, safeguarding surrounding communities, and avoiding costly litigation and legal settlements far exceeds the CSB’s modest annual budget,” CSB Chairperson Steve Owens says in the video. “The CSB more than pays for itself in costs saved by preventing serious chemical incidents.”
More information about CSB’s work can be found in the agency’s news release. Details about the proposed budget are available from CSB and the White House.
U.S. Department of Labor safety inspectors determined that Brazilian Stone Design, LLC, a Powder Springs, GA, stone countertop manufacturer, exposed workers to respirable crystalline silica.OSHA cited the employer, which fabricates and sells kitchen and bathroom countertops, with seven serious citations. The employer will pay $33,000 in penalties.
The employer was cited for allegedly exposing workers to high airborne concentrations of respirable crystalline silica and failing to require the use of respirators; perform fit testing and training for workers wearing respirators; conduct air monitoring; and administer an effective hearing conservation program.
In a safety and health advisory published in May, NIOSH warns firefighters that certain facepiece lenses on self-contained breathing apparatuses will degrade and fail more quickly than other components of their SCBA and personal protective equipment ensemble. When exposed to extreme heat and energy, SCBA facepiece lenses meeting the 2007 or earlier editions of the National Fire Protection Association’s 1981 standard on open-circuit SCBA for emergency services develop holes, bubbling, and other severe deformation leading to the equipment’s failure, NIOSH’s document explains.In 2012, an NFPA safety alert helped establish the lens radiant heat and elevated temperature heat and flame resistance tests, which NFPA added to its testing procedures to prevent additional failures of this kind. As a result, SCBA facepiece lenses meeting the 2013 or later editions of NFPA’s 1981 standard are manufactured with more heat- and flame-resistant materials and have greater integrity.
NIOSH urges fire departments to upgrade or replace SCBAs with those meeting 2013 or later editions of the NFPA standard and to report failure, near failure, or significant degradation of SCBA components both to the agency and the equipment manufacturer.
The safety and health advisory on thermal degradation and failure of facepiece lenses may be downloaded from NIOSH’s website.
Eagle Ship Management, LLC (ESM), based in Stamford, Connecticut, pleaded guilty yesterday to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) by deliberately polluting U.S. waters off the coast of New Orleans from the M/V Gannet Bulker, a foreign-flagged bulk carrier. If approved by the court, ESM would pay a criminal fine of $1,750,000 and serve a four-year term of probation that includes external audits by an independent technical expert.The chief engineer of the Gannet Bulker was prosecuted in a separate case and sentenced to serve a year and a day in prison for his role in the discharge of oil and obstructing justice.
The Coast Guard launched its investigation after a crew member sent a message via social media on March 14, 2021, indicating that the engine room had flooded and that the resulting oil-contaminated bilge waste had been deliberately pumped overboard at night. Flooded bilges can pose a serious threat to the safety of the ship and crew, including creating a risk of electrocution, loss of power, and inability to steer.
At the time, the Gannet Bulker was at an anchorage near the Southwest Passage of the Port of New Orleans, near the mouth of the Mississippi River. According to court records, the intentional overboard oily discharge into U.S. waters involved approximately 39 cubic meters (approximately 10,303 gallons), and was done without the use of required pollution prevention equipment or required recordkeeping
“The Department of Justice vigorously prosecutes violations of the laws that protect U.S. ports and waters,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “The criminal conduct involved here was serious, including intentional pollution and a deliberate coverup.”
In pleading guilty, ESM admitted that its crew engaged in a variety of obstructive acts to conceal the internal flooding that was caused by a botched repair. The obstructive acts included retaliation against the whistleblower whose identity was known. Senior ship officers and crew also lied to the Coast Guard and destroyed evidence including a printout from the engine control room computer that contained key information. Additionally, senior ship officers created false and backdated personnel evaluations intended to discredit the whistleblower.
U.S. Department of Labor safety inspectors cited Keystone Foods, a distributor for Tyson Foods, for allegedly failing to protect employees against fire and explosion hazards at its Camilla, Georgia, poultry plant.OSHA determined that on Dec. 26, 2024, two workers at the plant, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tyson Foods, Inc., were seriously burned when a hose filled with oil ruptured, igniting the oil mist and causing a fire and explosion in the boiler room. Inspectors concluded Keystone Foods did not ensure workers followed proper internal procedures nor the manufacturer’s guidelines when conducting maintenance on its boiler pump.
OSHA issued Keystone Foods a citation for a serious violation under the OSH Act’s general duty clause and proposed penalties of $16,550.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
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