The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is increasing penalties for serious safety violations, contending current fines are too low to have a deterrent effect.

OSHA's average penalty for a serious violation has been around $1,000. Under the agency's new policy, the average fine for a serious violation - one that could cause death or serious injury - will increase to between $3,000 and $4,000.

The agency would like to increase penalties even further, but is constrained by current legal maximums of $7,000 for serious violations and $70,000 for willful violations. Legislation pending in Congress, which OSHA favors, would increase those maximum penalties to $12,000 and $250,000, and adjust them for inflation in the future.

"Although we are making significant adjustments in our penalty policy within the tight constraints of our law, this administrative effort is no substitute for the meaningful and substantial penalty charges included in the Protecting America's Workers Act," said OSHA Director David Michaels.

"OSHA inspections and penalties must be large enough to discourage employers from cutting corners or underfunding safety programs to save a few dollars," he said.

The agency said it will continue its policy of reducing penalties for small businesses and employers that act in good faith.

But it will increase inspections at work sites with repeat safety violations. The new policy "will include a more intense examination of an employer's practices for systemic problems that would trigger additional mandatory inspections," Michaels said.

Meanwhile, the Senate Budget Committee restored funding for OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs, which encourage workplace safety through cooperative efforts among management, workers and OSHA. Compliance assistance programs such as VPP are a necessary part of "a balanced approach to the goal of increased workplace safety," said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo.

For more information, see www.osha.gov

Task force to boost small-biz contracting

President Barack Obama established an interagency task force to increase contracting opportunities for small businesses.

The task force will be co-chaired by the secretary of commerce, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the head of the Small Business Administration. The president directed the group to submit recommendations within 120 days on how to help small businesses win more contracts. The president's memorandum specifically cited expanding mentorship programs, unbundling large contracts, training federal procurement officers on small business contracting strategies, and using new technologies to identify procurement opportunities for small businesses.

In addition, the president asked the task force to expand the government's outreach to small businesses, and examine whether laws and regulations need to be changed.

The president also asked for more accurate and transparent data on contracts to small businesses. He wants a new Web site developed within 90 days that will report contracts awarded to small businesses.

The federal government is supposed to award at least 23 percent of its contracting dollars to small businesses, but that goal is rarely met. Plus, many contracts that have been credited to small businesses in reality went to large businesses, meaning the actual percentage of contracts that go to small businesses is smaller than what the SBA reports every year.

"Obtaining tangible results will require an honest an accurate accounting of our progress so that we can have transparency and accountability through federal small business procurement data," the president wrote.

Obama also created another task force that aims to increase access to capital and contracting opportunities for businesses owned by service-disabled veterans.

See www.whitehouse.gov

R&D program gets short-term extension

A program that sets aside federal research and development contracts for small businesses is getting another short-term extension.

The Small Business Innovation Research program is scheduled to expire April 30, but Congress passed legislation extending it another three months, through July 31. The SBIR program requires 11 federal agencies to set aside 2.5 percent of their outside research budgets for small businesses. About 5,500 SBIR awards totaling $2 billion are awarded each year.

The extension "will allow the nation's innovators and entrepreneurs to continue their work as we continue negotiations with the House for a longer, more comprehensive agreement," said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who chairs the Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee.

The biggest issue in these negotiations is whether Congress should make companies that are majority-owned by venture capital firms eligible for the SBIR program.

The Small Business Administration, meanwhile, is seeking applications from states for $2 million in grants that will be used to help small, scientifically oriented firms tap the SBIR program and the Small Business Technology Transfer program.

For more information, see www.sba.gov

Small-business advocate eyes stormwater rule

The office that represents small businesses in the federal government's regulatory process has asked the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider a rule that limits stormwater discharges at construction and development sites.

The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy contends the Dec. 1, 2009, rule will add significant costs to small construction firms, make housing less affordable and doing little to improve the environment.

Most important, from a regulatory viewpoint, the stringent effluent limits adopted by EPA were based on inaccurate data, the office contended.

The rule requires that runoff from a construction site be virtually free of soil or sediment - an impossible standard to meet, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

See www.sba.gov/advo

Kent Hoover: khoover@bizjournals.com