What are willful and repeat violations under OSHA?

Willful and repeat violations carry the highest civil penalty limit in the OSH Act. Section 17(a) applies to an employer who willfully or repeatedly violates the Act. The Act's definitions section does not define either word.

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

What the rule says

“Any employer who willfully or repeatedly violates the requirements of section 654 of this title, any standard, rule, or order promulgated pursuant to section 655 of this title, or regulations prescribed pursuant to this chapter may be assessed a civil penalty of not more than $70,000 for each violation, but not less than $5,000 for each willful violation.”

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

The dollar figures in the Act have since been adjusted for inflation. The adjusted amounts are in 29 CFR 1903.15(d), quoted next.

“Adjusted civil monetary penalties. The adjusted civil penalties for penalties proposed after January 15, 2025 are as follows:
(1) Willful violation. The penalty per willful violation under section 17(a) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. 666(a), shall not be less than $11,823 and shall not exceed $165,514.
(2) Repeated violation. The penalty per repeated violation under section 17(a) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. 666(a), shall not exceed $165,514.”

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

Searched 29 U.S.C. 652, the Act's definitions section, in the 2024 edition. It contains none of these words: “willful”, “repeat”.

Where it applies

29 U.S.C. 666, Civil and criminal penalties 2 paragraphs use the term.
29 CFR 1903.15, Proposed penalties 2 paragraphs use the term.
29 CFR 1903.19, Abatement verification 2 paragraphs use the term. Read the text on eCFR.

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, 5,381 (0.5%) are recorded as willful and 41,328 (3.7%) as repeat.

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.
Other-than-serious violation A violation of the OSH Act, a standard or a regulation that is specifically determined not to be of a serious nature.
Failure to abate Failing to correct a cited violation within the period permitted, which can be penalized for each day it continues.
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.
29 U.S.C. 652, Definitions. U.S. Code, 2024 edition, current through January 6, 2025, from govinfo.gov.
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.