OSHA Counters OIG Report That Questions Effectiveness Of Penalty Reductions

OSHA is pushing back against claims contained in a Labor Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit report contending that the agency's policy of reducing penalties has been ineffective at improving safety and health at workplaces where the agency has issued citations. OSHA told the OIG that its recently updated penalty policy will adequately limit penalty reductions, and resisted the OIG's call to go a step further and prohibit reductions when an employer is found to have violated a similar standard more than once. The report suggested revising the policy of good faith reductions for employers w