Contractors beware: OSHA penalties are on the rise, and that could pose major trouble for your company.

For 25 years, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been exempt from increasing its penalties to account for inflation. But with the new budget, signed into law on Nov. 2, President Barack Obama has amended that exemption. Now OSHA has been directed to upwardly adjust its fines and to keep raising them on an annual basis so they’ll be in line with the Consumer Price Index.

Since OSHA’s exemption went into effect in 1990, the Consumer Price Index has risen more than 80 percent. That means this initial raising of OSHA penalties could be a big shock to companies that are found to have committed violations.

For instance, a violation of OSHA posting requirements would result in a maximum fine of $7000 today. But after the new fines are implemented next August, that same violation could cost a company more than $12,000.

But when you start talking about willful violations—when an employer is found to have knowingly failed to comply with a legal requirement or to have acted with indifference toward employee safety—the numbers really start adding up. Today, the maximum penalty is $70,000. But after adjusting for inflation, the new penalty would be more than $127,000.

This poses a special challenge to contractors, particularly those working in construction.

It’s not news that construction is one of the most dangerous fields to work in. And it’s not surprising, either. Every day, construction professionals deal with heavy weights, on-the-job vehicles, power tools, and working at height and in traffic zones. In fact, in in 2013, nearly one-fifth of all workplace fatalities in the United States occurred in construction.

So what’s a contractor to do? The key is to establish stellar safety practices and procedures, to train workers, and to ensure that those workers follow the safety practices and procedures. A culture of safety has always been important for the safety of workers and the health of a company—but now it may also provide some protection against financial devastation resulting from these higher OSHA penalties.

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