Is Your Medical Spa Compliant? New OSHA Penalties Put in Place on August 1

According to AmSpa’s OSHA specialist, Steve Wilder of Sorensen, Wilder & Associates, the new OSHA penalties went into effect on August 1, 2016 and non-compliance has never been more expensive!  
 
The new penalty structure is as follows:
 
TYPE OF CITATION                                         MAXIMUM CITATION ON 7/31/16             MAXIMUM CITATION AS OF 8/1/16
 
Serious
Other Than Serious                                       $7,000.00 per violation                                $12, 471 per violation   Posting Requirements
 
Failure to Abate                                             $7,000 per day beyond                                $12, 471 per day beyond abatement date
abatement date
 
Willful or Repeat Violations                        $70,000 per violation                                    $124,709 per violation
 
The penalties are hefty and the compliance officer are becoming aggressive.  It is not a good time to non-compliant.
 
A special word of caution to those of you who are part of healthcare SYSTEMS. If a deficiency is noted and cited at one of your locations, and the same deficiency is later noted at a second location in the same system, a REPEAT VIOLATION can be issued, and the penalty for that one violation ca
n be up to $124,709.00.  And again, there is no insurance!
 
Ex:  ABC Healthcare has a location in Reno, NV and another in Salt Lake City, UT.  An OSHA inspection at the Reno location reveals that the facility is deficient in compliance with the Hazard Communication standard.  A citation is issued.  Four months later, an inspection at the Salt Lake City location reveals the same deficiency.  As a result, a REPEAT VIOLATION citation may be issued.  The concept is the location in Reno should have communicated the deficiency to all of the other locations in the system, and the appropriate corrections made.
 
I would encourage you to work with you safety officers/safety consultants and start planning a mock OSHA inspection ahead of time. AmSpa also offers a variety of safety templates, including an OSHA Self-Assessment Checklist at 20% for its members. Contact cathy@americanmedspa.org for your discount code and then click here to purchase. The more you can identify now, the less it will cost you later.