OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program

Despite the risks, the hefty fines, and the reputational damage, companies continue to violate OSHA standards either deliberately or unintentionally. Often, these violations are not remedied, even after continual warnings and fines.

For this reason, OSHA created the Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) in 2010. OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) "concentrates resources on inspecting employers who have demonstrated indifference to their OSH Act obligations by willful, repeated, or failure-to-abate violations."

Per the Severe Violator Enforcement Program White Paper (2013), for a case to meet SVEP criteria, it must meet one of the following criteria:

• Fatality/catastrophe inspection with one or more willful or repeated violations or failure-to-abate notices (SVEP-fatality)
• Non-fatality/catastrophe inspection with two or more willful or repeated violations or failure-to-abate notices that are high gravity violations related to High-Emphasis Hazards (SVEP-HEH)
• Non-fatality/catastrophe inspection with three or more willful or repeated violations or failure-to-abate notices that are high gravity violations related to the potential release of a highly hazardous chemical (SVEP-PSM)
• Egregious (for example, per-instance citations) case (SVEP-egregious)

Note that SVEP replaces OSHA's Enhanced Enforcement Program (EEP).

OSHA's enforcement does not just end with citations. Its comprehensive SVEP ensures that the organization follows up on offenders. This illustrates OSHA's dedication to worker safety and serves as a reminder that OSHA's services are comprehensive and far-reaching.

To learn more about HAZWOPER visit our HAZWOPER 40 Hour Online Training web page.