In the past, employers who failed to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and training to a group of employees would be given one violation for the entire group. Recently however, OSHA has modified its language in the PPE rule to indicate that it can issue these violations on a per-employee basis. For instance, if you have a hundred employees in a working area who are not provided PPE, you can receive a hundred citations – one for each unprotected employee in the area – rather than one single citation which used to be the case. Therefore, if you were once cited $1,000 for the incident, now that would escalate into a hefty penalty of $100,000 for each individual not covered.
This substantially increases these already-pricey fines. If you are caught without proper hazardous materials training or PPE, you will be cited for a small fortune. Additionally, you have a moral obligation to provide a safe working environment to your employees.
It’s a good idea to invest in your shop’s PPE expenses now than to be on the receiving end of this penalty. Be proactive and review your compliance with OSHA’s rules on PPE and hazmat training.
To read more about this rule, please visit OSHA’s website.