On Tuesday, October 20th, Eric J. Conn and Lindsay A. Smith delivered a webinar regarding “OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP): Who, What, When and How to Avoid It.“
OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) is an enforcement program intended by OSHA to direct its enforcement resources at employers whom OSHA believes are “indifferent to their OSH Act obligations.” Employers who “qualify” for SVEP by being accused of committing Willful or Repeat violations in certain categories face a heavy dose of public shaming, but more importantly, 
will receive a heavy dose of OSHA inspections at the same and related facilities throughout the organization. The SVEP also includes a harsh and unrealistic “exit criteria,” so once you check in, you may never leave. To make matters worse, OSHA qualifies employers into SVEP just based on allegations, not proven violations.
The webinar explained what SVEP is, reviewed how employers qualify, described the types of companies that are being ensnared and in what circumstances, and provided recommendations for how to avoid SVEP and how to get removed if you do qualify.
Topics included:
- Background about the Severe Violator Enforcement Program
- Qualifying criteria and timing issues
- Consequences of qualifying for SVEP
- Data and trends about SVEP and SVEP employers
- Best practices to avoid or get out of SVEP
Here is a link to a recording of the webinar, which includes the full audio with slides.
Plan to join us for the remaining webinars in Conn Maciel Carey’s 2015 OSHA Webinar Series, and check out our archives for recordings of the earlier webinars done as part of the series.