Committee Advances Bill To Increase Wyoming Workplace Safety Fines

A bill to increase penalties against Wyoming employers when safety violations result in worker fatalities has cleared its first hearing.

The Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee on Wednesday recommended approval of the bill. Wyoming long has been among the top states in the rate of worker fatalities.

Current Wyoming law doesn’t have a separate penalty for workplace fatalities and caps the fine for serious violations at $7,000, whether regardless whether they result in a fatality.

The committee on Wednesday endorsed a bill that would set the penalty for companies that willfully and knowingly commit safety violations that result in fatalities at $50,000 for companies that employ fewer than 250 people and up to $250,000 for larger companies.

The committee voted to extend the penalties to cover public entities.