What is an other-than-serious violation under OSHA?

An other-than-serious violation is a violation of the OSH Act, an OSHA standard or its regulations that is specifically determined not to be of a serious nature. The employer may be assessed a civil penalty for it.

By Cairn. Updated October 29, 2026. Sources: eCFR text as of October 27, 2026, U.S. Code, 2024 edition.

The legal definitions

“Any employer who has received a citation for a violation of the requirements of section 654 of this title, of any standard, rule, or order promulgated pursuant to section 655 of this title, or of regulations prescribed pursuant to this chapter, and such violation is specifically determined not to be of a serious nature, may be assessed a civil penalty of up to $7,000 for each such violation.”

29 U.S.C. 666(c). U.S. Code, 2024 edition.

The dollar figure in the Act has since been adjusted for inflation. The current maximum, as 29 CFR 1903.15(d) lists it for penalties proposed after January 15, 2025, is quoted next.

“Adjusted civil monetary penalties. The adjusted civil penalties for penalties proposed after January 15, 2025 are as follows:
(4) Other-than-serious violation. The penalty for an other-than-serious violation under section 17(c) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. 666(c), shall not exceed $16,550.”

29 CFR 1903.15(d). eCFR, text as of October 27, 2026.

Where it applies

29 U.S.C. 666, Civil and criminal penalties One paragraph uses the term.
29 CFR 1903.15, Proposed penalties One paragraph uses the term.

In the enforcement record

Cairn has a page for each of the 248 sections of 29 CFR with at least 50 cited violations from January 2016 through September 10, 2026. Together they hold 1,108,318 cited violations from federal and state-plan agencies. Of those, 274,931 (24.8%) are recorded as other than serious.

Cairn data, October 2026 snapshot.

See every standard ranked by citations

Related terms

Serious violation A violation with a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result, unless the employer could not have known of it.
De minimis violation A violation with no direct or immediate relationship to safety or health, for which OSHA may issue a notice instead of a citation.
Willful and repeat violations The violation categories with the highest civil penalty limit, for employers who willfully or repeatedly violate the OSH Act.
OSHA citation The written notice OSHA issues when it believes an employer has violated the OSH Act, a standard or a regulation.

All terms in the OSHA glossary

Sources

29 U.S.C. 666, Civil and criminal penalties. U.S. Code, 2024 edition, current through January 6, 2025, from govinfo.gov.
29 CFR 1903.15, Proposed penalties. eCFR, text as of October 27, 2026.
Cairn data, October 2026 snapshot. Cairn analysis of the OSHA enforcement record.

Written by Cairn, updated October 29, 2026. The quoted text is copied from the sources above. A test compares each quotation with a stored copy of the source, and a separate script compares that copy with the live sources. This page explains the law and is not legal advice.