AN ACT relating to occupational health and safety.

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AN ACT relating to occupational health and safety. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 338.991 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) Any employer who willfully or repeatedly violates the requirement of any section 4
of this chapter, including any standard, regulation, or order promulgated pursuant to 5
this chapter, may be assessed a civil penalty of up to one hundred forty thousand 6
dollars ($140,000), as shall be adjusted as provided in subsection (13) of this 7
section,[seventy thousand dollars ($70,000)] for each violation, but not less than 8
five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each willful violation. 9
(2) Any employer who has received a citation for a serious violation of the 10
requirements of any section of this chapter, including any standard, regulation, or 11
order promulgated pursuant to this chapter, shall be assessed a civil penalty of up to 12
fourteen thousand dollars ($14,000), as shall be adjusted as provided in 13
subsection (13) of this section,[seven thousand dollars ($7,000)] for each violation. 14
(3) Any employer who has received a citation for a violation of the requirements of any 15
section of this chapter, including any standard, regulation, or order promulgated 16
pursuant to this chapter, and such violation is specifically determined not to be of a 17
serious nature, may be assessed a civil penalty of up to fourteen thousand dol lars 18
($14,000), as shall be adjusted as provided in subsection (13) of this 19
section,[seven thousand dollars ($7,000)] for each violation. 20
(4) Any employer who receives a notice of a de minimis violation of any section of this 21
chapter, including any standar d, administrative regulation, or order promulgated 22
pursuant to this chapter, shall not be assessed a civil penalty. As used in this 23
subsection, a de minimis violation is a violation that has no direct or immediate 24
relationship to safety or health. 25
(5) Any employer who fails to correct a violation for which a citation has been issued 26
within the period permitted for its correction may be assessed a civil penalty of up 27
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to fourteen thousand dollars ($14,000), as shall be adjusted as provided in 1
subsection ( 13) of this section, [seven thousand dollars ($7,000)] for each day 2
during which such failure or violation continues. 3
(6) Any employer found to be in violation of [ subsection (3) of] KRS 338.121(3) shall 4
be assessed a civil penalty of up to ten thousand dol lars ($10,000) for each 5
violation. 6
(7) The review commission shall have the authority to modify all civil penalties and 7
fines provided for in this chapter. The review commission may, at its discretion, 8
suspend the time period allotted for correction of a violation during the review of an 9
appeal from the violation in question. 10
(8) All civil penalties and fines collected under the provision of this chapter shall be 11
paid into the general fund. 12
(9) Any employer or individual who knowingly makes any false statem ent, 13
representation, or certification in any application, record, report, plan, or other 14
document filed or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter shall, upon 15
conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), 16
or by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or by both. 17
(10) Any person who gives advance notice of any investigation or inspection to be 18
conducted under this chapter, without authority from the commissioner, shall, upon 19
conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or 20
by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or by both. 21
(11) Any employer or individual who willfully causes bodily harm to any authorized 22
representative of the commissioner while attempting to conduct an investigation or 23
inspection under the provisions of this chapter, shall, upon conviction, be punished 24
by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment for 25
not more than one (1) year, or by both. 26
(12) As used in this section, a serious violation shall be deemed to exist in a place of 27
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employment if there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm 1
could result from a condition which exists, or from one (1) or more practices, 2
means, methods, operations, or processes which have been adopted or are in use, in 3
such place of employment unless the employer did not, and could not with the 4
exercise of reasonable diligence, know of the presence of the violation. 5
(13) Beginning August 1, 2026, the secretary sh all annually adjust the maximum civil 6
penalties provided for in subsections (1), (2), (3), and (5) of this section by the 7
percent increase in the nonseasonally adjusted annual average Consumer Price 8
Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI -U), U.S. City Average, All Items, between 9
the two (2) most recent calendar years available, as published by the United States 10
Bureau of Labor Statistics. The amount of each adjustment to the maximum civil 11
penalties shall be rounded to the nearest whole dollar. Beginning August 1, 2026, 12
the secretary shall begin a three (3) year phase -in for the penalty adjustments. 13
The adjustments to the penalties shall be effective on each August 1. If the CPI -U 14
is discontinued or revised, any other historical index or computation approved by 15
the secretary shall be used for purposes of this section that would obtain 16
substantially the same result as if the CPI -U had not been discontinued or 17
revised. 18