Through the first four months of 2016, federal safety officials have added 21 new construction industry cases to OSHA's Severe Violators Enforcement Program, according to data from Engineering News-Record. That brings the total of companies in the program to around 520. Sixty percent, or around 312, of those companies are construction related. Those companies include general and specialty contractors.
OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) was instituted in June 2010 to focus enforcement efforts on employers who "demonstrate indifference to the health and safety of their employees through willful, repeated or failure-to-abate violations of the OSH Act."
Employers in the program are subject to increased inspection and enforcement.
Employers may be considered for removal from the program after:
- Three years have passed from the final disposition of the citation that placed them in the program
- Employer has abated all affirmed violations
- Paid all final penalties
- Abided by and completed all settlement provisions
- Not received any additional serious citations related to the hazards identified in the inspection
If an employer fails to adhere to these terms during the three-year probationary period the employer will remain in the program for another three years before being re-evaluated.
