Alaska Administrative Code
Title 8 - Labor and Workforce Development
Part 4 - Occupational Safety and Health Division
Chapter 61 - Occupational Safety and Health
Article 2 - Inspections, Citations, and Proposed Penalties
8 AAC 61.140 - Assessment of penalties for citations

(a) The commissioner or the commissioner's authorized designee may assess a civil penalty when the department issues a citation under 8 AAC 61.110. The commissioner or authorized designee will assess a penalty for any violation classified as a serious, repeat, willful, or failure-to-abate violation. The commissioner or authorized designee may assess a penalty for any violation classified as other than serious.

(b) The commissioner or the commissioner's authorized designee may assess civil penalties for violations of AS 18.60.010-18.60.105, and except as adjusted under (j) of this section, the penalty

(c) Repealed 7/28/2013.

(d) The commissioner or the commissioner's authorized designee will determine the amount of any proposed penalty, giving due consideration to the size of the employer's business, gravity of the violation, good faith of the employer, and the employer's previous history of violations of AS 18.60.010 18.60.105. The commissioner or authorized designee also may consider the recommendations of a representative of the department who has consulted with the employer concerning the factors that the commissioner or authorized designee may consider in assessing a penalty.

(e) The commissioner or the commissioner's authorized designee will notify the employer of the penalty proposed according to the requirements set out in AS 18.60.093. A notice will be sent even if no penalty is proposed.

(f) The commissioner or the commissioner's authorized designee may propose a penalty with respect to an alleged serious violation even though the employer immediately abates the alleged violation. However, an employer who demonstrates immediate abatement of an alleged violation and requests an informal conference is eligible for a 30- to 50-percent reduction through an informal settlement agreement signed before the expiration of the 15-working day period established in AS 18.60.093(a) for a notice of contest.

(h) In deciding cases contested under 8 AAC 61.150 - 8 AAC 61.220, the board is not bound by the department's classification of a violation or the commissioner's or the commissioner's authorized designee's assessment of a penalty for a violation.

(i) Repealed 7/28/2013.

(j) The minimum and maximum penalties in subsection (b)(1) through (5) of this section are adjusted annually under 29 C.F.R. 1903.15 based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The adjusted minimum and maximum penalties will be published annually by the department in the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Civil Penalties pamphlet on or before February 1 and will apply to penalties assessed beginning on February 1 of that same calendar year through January 31 of the next calendar year.