The U.S. Department of Labor’s recent updates to OSHA’s Field Operations Manual reinforce an important truth: the goal isn’t punishment - it’s protection. 

While fines can encourage compliance, true safety leadership goes beyond avoiding citations. It’s about protecting people, sustaining productivity, and creating a culture where hazards are addressed before they cause harm. The updated guidance is especially meaningful for small businesses, offering increased penalty reductions that free up resources for hazard abatement and compliance improvements. 

For example, a 70% penalty reduction, previously available only to employers with 10 or fewer employees, now extends to those with up to 25 employees. OSHA has also added a 15% reduction for employers who take immediate steps to correct hazards, and expanded the 20% reduction for employers without a history of serious, willful, repeat, or failure-to-abate violations. These updates reward prevention, quick action, and a clean safety record. 

OSHA retains the right to withhold reductions if they don’t support the goals of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, but overall, this policy shift recognizes that safety investments yield far greater returns than penalty avoidance ever could. 

We applaud OSHA for taking steps to help smaller employers focus resources on protecting their people. Because in the end, the true cost of an unsafe workplace isn’t the fine. It’s the injury that could have been prevented.