OSHA Fine Amounts 2026: Current Penalty Rates and Calculation Guide

OSHA fine amounts are adjusted annually for inflation. For 2026, the maximum penalty for a serious violation is $16,550 per violation. Willful or repeat violations carry penalties up to $165,514 per violation. These amounts apply to penalties assessed after the January 2026 adjustment took effect.

Below is a complete breakdown of current OSHA penalty amounts by violation type, the factors that influence how penalties are calculated, and a calculator to estimate your potential exposure.

2026 OSHA Penalty Amounts by Violation Type

OSHA classifies violations into several categories, each carrying different penalty ranges. The classification depends on the severity of the hazard, whether the employer knew about it, and whether similar violations have been cited before.

These amounts represent the maximum penalty per individual violation. A single inspection can result in multiple violations across different standards, and penalties are assessed per violation — not per inspection.

Understanding Each Violation Type

Serious Violations

A serious violation exists when the workplace hazard could cause an injury or illness that would most likely result in death or serious physical harm. The employer must have known or should have known about the hazard. This is the most common citation type in construction.

The gravity of a serious violation is determined by the severity of the potential injury (from low to high) and the probability that an injury would occur. High-gravity serious violations receive penalties closer to the $16,550 maximum.

Other-Than-Serious Violations

These involve hazards that have a direct relationship to job safety and health but are unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm. Examples include certain recordkeeping failures, minor posting violations, or housekeeping issues that create tripping hazards but not serious injury risk. Penalties can range from $0 to $16,550.

Willful Violations

A willful violation is issued when OSHA determines that the employer intentionally and knowingly committed the violation, or was aware that a hazardous condition existed and made no reasonable effort to eliminate it. Willful violations carry the harshest penalties and can also trigger criminal prosecution if a worker death is involved.

The minimum penalty for a willful violation is $11,524 — meaning even with every possible reduction applied, the fine cannot go below this floor.

Repeat Violations

A repeat violation is issued when an employer has been previously cited for a substantially similar condition and the citation has become a final order. OSHA looks back five years for repeat violation determinations. The penalty range mirrors willful violations: $11,524 to $165,514 per violation.

Failure to Abate

When an employer does not correct a previously cited violation by the abatement deadline, OSHA can assess penalties of up to $16,550 per day the violation continues beyond the deadline. These daily penalties accumulate rapidly and can exceed the original citation amount within a week.

How OSHA Calculates Penalty Amounts

OSHA does not simply assign the maximum penalty for every violation. The final amount is calculated using a gravity-based system with adjustment factors.

Gravity Assessment

The initial penalty is based on the gravity of the violation, which combines two factors:

• Severity — The seriousness of the potential injury (death, hospitalization, medical treatment, first aid)
• Probability — The likelihood that the hazard would result in an injury (greater, lesser)

High-severity, high-probability violations receive the highest initial penalty amounts. Lower gravity violations are assessed at reduced amounts.

Penalty Reduction Factors

After the gravity-based penalty is established, OSHA may apply three reduction factors:

• Employer size — Up to 60% reduction for very small employers (25 or fewer employees). Medium-sized employers (26–100) may receive up to 40%. Larger employers (101–250) may receive up to 20%.
• Good faith — Up to 25% reduction for employers who demonstrate a genuine commitment to safety through documented safety programs, training records, and proactive hazard identification. This reduction requires tangible evidence — verbal claims are not sufficient.
• Inspection history — Up to 10% reduction for employers with no prior OSHA citations in the past five years.

These reductions are not automatic. They require documented evidence. The good faith reduction, in particular, depends on the employer's ability to demonstrate an organized safety management system — which means comprehensive documentation is directly tied to potential penalty reduction.

Calculate Your Potential Fine Exposure

Use this calculator to estimate potential OSHA penalty exposure based on violation type, number of violations, and severity. This provides estimated ranges — actual penalties are determined by OSHA based on the specific circumstances of each case.

What Drives Fine Severity for Construction Contractors

The penalty amount you ultimately face depends heavily on what you can demonstrate during and after the inspection. Two contractors with identical hazards on site can receive dramatically different penalties based on their documentation.

Contractor A has organized training records, documented daily inspections, a written safety program, and incident response procedures on file. Contractor B has most of the same practices in place but cannot produce the records. Contractor A receives penalty reductions for good faith and may avoid certain citations entirely. Contractor B faces full penalties and additional recordkeeping citations.

The most common factors that increase fine severity in construction:

• Prior citation history — Previous violations within five years eliminate the history reduction and can trigger repeat violation classifications, which multiply penalty amounts by up to 10x.
• Employee exposure — OSHA can assess per-instance penalties when multiple employees are exposed to the same hazard. Five workers on an unguarded scaffold edge could mean five separate citations.
• Failure to document corrective actions — If a previous hazard was identified but corrective action was not documented, it suggests the employer was aware of the hazard and did not act — a factor that can escalate a citation from serious to willful.

The Documentation Connection to Penalty Reduction

Every penalty reduction factor — size, good faith, and inspection history — requires evidence. The good faith reduction alone can lower your penalties by 25%, but only if you can demonstrate organized safety management through documentation.

During an inspection, documentation gaps remove your ability to earn reductions. Without training records, you cannot claim good faith. Without daily inspection logs, you cannot demonstrate ongoing hazard identification. Without incident reports, you cannot show a pattern of responsive safety management.

The math is straightforward. On a $16,550 serious violation, the good faith reduction saves $4,138. The size reduction for a 25-person crew saves another $9,930. Combined with the history reduction, an employer with strong documentation can reduce a maximum-severity penalty by up to 80%. An employer with identical safety practices but poor documentation pays the full amount.

Documentation discipline reduces fine exposure. Not because it changes what happened on the jobsite — but because it changes what you can prove.