The state of Alaska’s Labor Standards and Safety Division recently released a revised Safety and Health Protection on the Job poster. The revised poster, enforced by the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Section (AKOSH), now reflects increased maximum penalties for violations of safety & health regulations. These increases match similar inflation-adjusted penalty increases adopted annually by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Which Penalty Amounts Have Changed on the Poster?
State and federal regulations empower safety & health inspectors to assess fines and penalties for violations of safety rules. Fed-OSHA and authorized State OSHA Plans, including AKOSH, classify violations based on severity, ranging from “other-than-serious” to “willful.” Each type of violation carries a specific maximum penalty. Alaska’s revised poster includes the following penalty increases:
- Serious and non-serious violation penalty maximums increased from $16,131 to $16,550 per violation.
- Willful and repeat violation penalty maximums increased from $161,131 to $165,514 per citation.
Why Did Alaska Increase Maximum Penalties for Safety Violations?
The Federal Register publishes inflation-adjusted civil penalty amounts for numerous federal laws and regulations each January. This practice resulted from the passage and enactment of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015. The Act requires annual adjustments to civil monetary penalty ranges based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). State OSHA Plans like Alaska’s Labor Standards and Safety Division must follow suit and adjust their own maximum penalties to match the revised federal amounts.
Alaska typically adopts the changes by February 1 each year, roughly two weeks after the Federal Register publishes the inflation adjustments. The Labor Standards and Safety Division publishes an annual publication called the FOM Penalties Supplement to announce the penalty increases. ("FOM" stands for "Field Operations Manual.")
Should Alaska Employers Replace Their Existing Poster?
Alaska’s revised Safety and Health Protection on the Job poster includes a revision date of November 2024 listed on the poster, the same as the prior version. Though the revision date has not changed, employers should always post the most current required posters to avoid issues. Safety and health notices are critically important since OSHA inspectors can assess penalties during an inspection if a required notice is not posted.
Employer Takeaways
Alaska employers should immediately replace their prior Alaska Safety and Health Protection on the Job poster with the recently updated version listing the increased penalty amounts. While the revision stems from a procedural requirement, posting the most current notice published by the state of Alaska can help employers demonstrate good-faith compliance during an inspection.
Labor Law Posters Online's revised 2025 Alaska State & Federal Labor Law Poster now includes the newly revised notice. Our all-on-one compliance poster solution is guaranteed to include all recent updates to any required state and federal posters. Existing Labor Law Posters Online customers who purchased our Alaska poster update program will automatically receive the revised notices at no additional cost as part of their annual service.
