Violations of safety rules on jobsites are now more expensive as the Labor Department announced its annual cost-of-living adjustments to OSHA civil penalties for 2024. The new penalty amounts went into effect Monday, Jan. 15.

OSHA’s maximum penalties for violations will increase from $15,625 per violation to $16,131 per violation. The maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations will increase from $156,259 per violation to $161,323 per violation.

The increases represent an annual increase of around 3.2% from 2023 to 2024, a far cry from the 7.7% increase OSHA announced in penalty increases from 2022 to 2023. The penalty increases are tied to the annual cost-of-living increases across the federal government and to inflation.

Visit the OSHA Penalties page and read the final rule for more information.

The safety of residential construction workers is a top priority of NAHB and should be the top priority of every builder, remodeler and contractor. The most common types of construction site injuries are fall injuries. This aligns with OSHA’s most-cited violations on jobsites.

Top OSHA violations for fiscal year 2023:

1. Fall Protection – General Requirements: 7,271 violations
2. Hazard Communication (Chemicals): 3,213
3. Ladders: 2,978
4. Scaffolding: 2,859
5. Powered Industrial Trucks: 2,561
6. Lockout/Tagout: 2,554
7. Respiratory Protection: 2,481
8. Fall Protection – Training Requirements: 2,112
9. Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment – Eye and Face Protection: 2,074
10. Machine Guarding: 1,644

Protect your workers and your bottom line with free safety resources from NAHB.