Since the June 2010 start of the Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has named 330 employers as severe violators, according to OSHA data.

Fifty-nine establishments that had been added to the list since the program’s start have been removed after successfully appealing a citation that landed them in the program. How else can an employer get off the bad-actor list?

OSHA issued a memorandum Aug. 16, 2012, to its regional administrators informing them of the criteria employers must meet to be removed from the SVEP,  a program that subjects employers to more-significant enforcement measures and penalties for willful, repeat and failure-to-abate violations of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act.

To be declared a severe violator, an employer must have experienced a fatality or an accident that hospitalized at least three workers or must have been cited for significant violations of OSHA standards, especially if the violations were found as part of a national emphasis program.

Once an establishment is designated a severe violator, OSHA may inspect other worksites of the employer. Also, the employer is expected to establish a safety program that could involve outside consultants and frequent follow-up visits by OSHA inspectors.   Roy Maurer, online editor for SHRM talks more about the criteria for removal from the SVEP here.

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