The Biggest OSHA Fines of 2025

Workplace safety enforcement was serious business in 2025, with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration handing out some eye-watering penalties to companies that put workers at risk, often repeatedly.

The Penalty Landscape

OSHA raised its maximum fine for serious violations to $16,550 per citation in 2025. Willful or repeat violations can reach $165,514 per citation and when companies rack up dozens of citations at once, the bills add up fast.

The Biggest Offenders

Sound Construction Inc., a concrete and earthwork contractor based in Easton, Connecticut. Following inspections at worksites in New Canaan and Stamford, OSHA proposed $1,224,798 in penalties after identifying seven willful and four serious violations. A June 2025 follow-up inspection revealed continued worker exposure to dangerous trenching and excavation hazards, including a lack of cave-in protection, particularly alarming given the company was already operating under a settlement agreement related to a fatal trench collapse in 2023.

Not far behind was Taylor Farms New Jersey Inc., a fresh-cut vegetable processor in Swedesboro, New Jersey, which received $1,125,484 in proposed penalties following a fatal incident in May 2025. A worker was killed while cleaning equipment that unexpectedly energized during maintenance. OSHA cited the company for 16 violations primarily related to failures in lockout/tagout procedures.

Virginia Transformer Corp. in Pocatello, Idaho, was cited for $986,888 after OSHA identified 53 serious and repeat violations, many of the same hazards cited during 2024 inspections, including unsafe crane operations, inadequate machine guarding, and unprotected fall hazards.

On the highest end of the "large fine" spectrum, Daehan Solution Nevada LLC topped early-year lists with $4,137,482 in penalties issued in January for 56 citations, 10 serious and 40 repeat violations.

A Clear Pattern

A common theme among the year's highest penalties was repeat and willful violations, cases where employers failed to correct known hazards after previous inspections, citations, or even fatalities. In other words, the companies hit hardest weren't just unlucky, they'd been warned before and chose not to act.

The takeaway for employers is straightforward: fixing a hazard the first time is always cheaper than paying for it twice.

By Chris Jones