OSHA Severe Violation Enforcement Program

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) replaces OSHA's Enhanced Enforcement Program (EEP).  Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees.  OSHA's function is to assure these conditions for the working population of the country by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance.

SVEP is intended to focus OSHA enforcement resources on obstinate employers that endanger workers by demonstrating indifference to their responsibilities under the law by committing willful, repeated or failure-to-abate violations in one or more of the following circumstances: a fatality or catastrophe; industry operations or processes that expose workers to severe occupational hazards; employee exposure to hazards related to the potential releases of highly hazardous chemicals; and all egregious enforcement actions.

SVEP targets high-emphasis hazards, which are defined as high gravity serious violations of specific fall standards (23 such standards are listed in general industry, construction, shipyards, marine terminal, and long shoring) or standards covered in National Emphasis Programs focused on amputations, combustible dusts, crystalline silica, lead, excavation/trenching, ship breaking, and process safety management.

The SVEP inspection procedures laid out by OSHA to compliance personnel say a follow-up inspection must be conducted after the citations become final orders in these cases to determine whether the violations were abated or the employer is committing similar violations.  "When there are reasonable grounds to believe that compliance problems identified in the initial inspection may be indicative of a broader pattern of non-compliance, OSHA will inspect related sites of the same employer," the instruction states.  There will be a SVEP Nationwide inspection list in such cases, with all sites inspected if there are 10 or fewer and sites chosen randomly if there are more.

A repeat violation will be issued when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.  When there are a number of repeat violations cited, a company will be added to the Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

Sources:

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=18714

http://www.osha.gov/dep/svep-directive.pdf