A new law gives the federal government the power to impose harsher fines on businesses that violate workplace safety laws, but the financial impact won't be known until next summer.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be able to increase the penalties it imposes - the first increase of its kind in many years - because of a provision that was included in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.
The Republican-controlled Congress approved the two-year budget bill in the waning days of October, just before the federal fiscal year ended. President Barack Obama a Democrat, signed the legislation Nov. 2.
The Obama administration has argued for the past several years that one of the biggest obstacles to OSHA's enforcement of workplace safety laws is the low level of civil penalties that are allowed.
The civil penalties were limited to $7,000 for serious violations, such as hazards that could cause death or serious bodily injury, and $70,000 for willful and repeat violations.
The actual penalties paid are often less because businesses can challenge the fines and negotiate a settlement.
By contrast, the Environmental Protection Agency can impose a penalty of $270,000 for violations of the Clean Air Act and $1 million for attempting to tamper with a public water system.
"OSHA's current penalties are clearly not strong enough to provide adequate incentives, and some employers see them as simply the 'cost of doing business," the agency said in a prepared statement.
"The maximum civil penalty OSHA may impose when a hard-working man or woman is killed on the job - even when the death is caused by a willful violation of an OSHA requirement - is $70,000," the agency said.
The big question now is how much the new penalties will be increased.
