The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is
charged with enforcing the Occupational Safety and Health Act of
1970, which applies to virtually all private employers. To that
end, OSHA has promulgated a substantial set of regulations, or
"standards," with the goal of preventing workplace
accidents and improving the quality of workers' day-to-day work
environments.
To monitor employers' compliance with these federal
standards, OSHA conducts on-site inspections, normally without any
advance notice. Following an on-site inspection, OSHA has six
months to issue a citation and proposed penalty. The citation
typically specifies the OSHA standard allegedly violated, imposes a
penalty and sets a deadline for correcting or abating the alleged
hazard. There are five categories of violations: (1)
other-than-serious, (2) serious, (3) repeated, (4) willful, and (5)
failure to abate. Currently, maximum penalties range from up to
$7,000 for each violation that is
