OSHA-88-010-HK
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STATE OF MINNESOTA
OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
FOR THE MINNESOTA OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW BOARD
Ray Bohn, Commissioner,
Department of Labor and Industry,
State of Minnesota,
FINDINGS OF FACT,
Complainant, CONCLUSIONS AND
ORDER
v s
S.B. Foote Tanning Company,
Respondent.
The above-entitled matter came on for hearing before Administrative Law
Judge Howard L. Kaibel, Jr., commencing in Minneapolis at 9:30 A.M. on January
5, 1988 pursuant to notice and was completed the following day. The record
closed on March 25, 1988, upon receipt of reply briefs.
Mark Rotenberg, of Dorsey & Whitney, Attorneys at Law, 2200 First Bank
Place East, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402, appeared on behalf of the
Respondent. Jeffrey Baker, Special Assistant Attorney General, Suite 200, 520
Lafayette Road, St. Paul, Minnesota 55155, appeared on behalf of the
Complainant.
Notice is hereby given, pursuant to Minn. Stat. 182.664, subd. 5, that
the Findings of Fact and Order of the Administrative Law Judge may be appealed
to the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Review Board by the employer,
employee or their authorized representatives within 30 days following the
publication of said Findings and Order. The procedures for appeal are set out
at Minn. Rule part 5215.5000.
STATEMENT OF ISSUES
(1) Did Respondent establish adequate procedures to provide its employees
with a work place and working conditions free from recognized hazards
which caused or were likely to cause death or serious injury as
required in Minn. Stat. 182.653, subd. 2?
(2) Did Respondent reasonably endeavor to communicate its safety
precautions to the relevant employees?
(3) Did Respondent take adequate steps to discover and prevent violations
of its safety rules?
(4) Were the alleged violations of the OSHA statute primarily the result
of unforeseeable, hidden, deliberate employee misconduct?
Based upon all of the proceedings herein, the Administrative Law Judge
makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. On December 4, 1986 and at all other relevant times herein,
Respondent was engaged in the business of tanning and processing leather hides
for use in finished leather goods at its plant located on Bench Street in Red
Wing, Minnesota.
2. The splitting department at this facility contained a five-inch
sub-floor horizontal auger that was used to convey leather shavings and scraps
through the splitting department to a vertical auger and on to a collecting
area. This horizontal auger was powered by a three-horsepower motor.
3. The auger was located in the floor directly underneath three Polletto
whole side shavers. These machnes shaved down leather hides to a uniform
thickness, producing waste leather shavings and scraps that had to be
collected for disposal. The sub-floor auger expedited collection.
4. The auger is covered by the shaver machines themselves, or by
protective metal gratings, so that no part of it is exposed to the operators.
The metal gratings are recessed into the floor, so the top of the gratings are
level with the floor.
5. This sub-floor auger was installed in the splitting department in the
spring of 1986. Management personnel met to discuss safety issues concerning
the operation of this new equipment. -these managers concluded that safety
hazards created by the auger's operation could be adequately addressed through
the following safety program:
(a) The mechanism is completely enclosed so there is no exposure to the
auger itself , unless a shaver- machine or gratings are moved from
their normal position.
(b) Clean-up procedures require an operator to leave the gratings in
place at all times. First, operators shut off their machines and use
an air blower to clean the machnes and the surrounding armas of
leather shavings. Operators then are to use a broom to sweep the
shavings over the protective metal gratings, through which they fall
into the auger. Operators are instructed that shavings which do not
f a 1 1 through the protective grating must be swept up, put into a
shovel, and taken to a nearby disposal cart. Each operator is given
a vacuum blower, broom, and shovel for the clean-up procedure.
Operators are allowed adequate time for this cleaning.
(c) Respondent established a specific lockout procedure for the sub-floor
auger, accompanied by explicit warnings, to prevent any exposure by
shaver operators to the auger while it was operating. The lockout
procedure required that the auger must never be operated unless it is
covered by the protective gratings. A shut-off button locking down
the auger system is on a wall directly facing the whole side shaver
machines.
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( d Respondent also installed automatic shut-off buttons on each of the
whole side shaver machines which immediately deactivated the
sub-floor auger mechanism.
(e) Respondent posted safety warnings concerning lockout of the sub-floor
auger mechanism on the wall facing the whole side shave machines.
The warning poster stated, in pertinent part:
Lock out power before removing cover on guard.
TO AVOID UNSAFE OR HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS, THE FOLLOWING
MINIMUM PROVISIONS MUST BE STRICTLY OBSERVED.
1.(A) SCREW CONVEYORS SHALL NEVER BE OPERATED UNLESS THE
CONVEYOR HOUSING COMPLETELY ENCLOSES THE CONVEYOR
MOVING ELEMENTS. All necessary housings, covers,
safety guards, railings, gratings and power
transmission guards must be in place. If the
conveyor is to be opened for inspection, cleaning or
observation, the motor driving the conveyor is to be
locked out electrically in such a manner that it
cannot be started by anyone, however remote from the
area unless the conveyor housing has been closed and
all guards are in place. THE HOUSINGS, COVERS, AND
GUARDS ARE NECESSARY T 0 PREVENT ANYONE FROM
ENTERING, REACHING, OR FALLING INTO THE MACHINERY,
WHICH MAY RESULT IN SERIOUS PERSONAL INJURY.
b. Dayle Banitt, Bill Benson and Larry Wahlund frequently operated the
whole side shavers together on the same shift. Burton Christianson was the
supervisor of the Splitting Department on the morning shift. On December 4,
1986, all four worked the morning shift.
7. The Company's safety policies regarding the sub-floor auger were
communicated to the whole side shaver operators through safety meetings held
by the splitting department supervisor or his assistant. Larry Wahlund, Bill
Benson and Dayle Banitt all "signed-off" on "Supervisor's Personal Contact"
cards that they attended a safety meeting regarding proper operation of the
sub-floor auger. Larry and Bill signed-off on cards dated April 18, 1986.
Dayle signed-off on a card dated June 23, 1986. Al 1 three of these cards
stated that the employee was contacted by a supervisor about the "[I lock out
procedure on [the] Auger System" The personal contact card was part of S.B.
Foot's procedure for recording the occurrence of safety meetings.
8. The safety meetings regarding the sub-floor auger consisted of a
supervisor or assistant supervisor taking employees to the warning sign posted
near the power switches for the sub-floor auger and asking them to read the
sign. The employees were then asked if they had any questions or did not
understand this warning sign. The employees then signed the "Supervisor's
Personal Contact' cards and returned to work. Aside from this meeting, safe
operation of the sub-floor auger was not discussed with employees from the
time it was installed until after Larry Wahlund's accident.
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9 . Sometime in 1986, because of problems with spotting on the leather
hides, the Company directed the whole side shaver operators to improve their
efforts in cleaning their machines and adjacent areas.
10. Shortly after the whole side shavers were admonished to keep the area
cleaner, they began to lift the metal grates covering the auger during their
clean-up procedure. They found that lifting the grates was the most
expeditious way to keep leather shavings and scraps from clogging the holes in
the grates.
11. Dayle Banitt and Bill Benson often worked together on their
clean-up. One would sometimes lift up one side of the grate stile -the other
swept debris into the auger. Larry Wahlund often had no assistance and would
sometimes remove the grate while he swept waste into the auger.
12. Dayle Banitt and Bill Benson had been lifting the grate and Larry
Wahlund had sometimes removed the grate during the cleaning process,
frequently for one-to-two months prior to Larry Wahlund's injury on December
4, 1986.
13. Each of the operators was aware of, and understood, the posted
warnings and procedures.
14. Employees were cautioned by Respondent that violations of the
Company's safety rules and procedures would lead to discipline.
15. Respondent's supervisors' top priority was to assure compliance with
the Company's safety rules and procedures. Supervisors were specifically
required to be vigilant for improper safety practices, and were instructed by
the personnel manager with respect to potential safety problems they might
encounter in their areas.
16. On a typical day, the principal supervisor of the whole side shaver
area was often present in that area, including specifically during the
clean-up period.
17. Wahlund admitted to hiding his practice of removing the grating in
order that no one would see him doing so. He also admitted fearing discipline
if his misconduct were observed by the supervisors.
18. No supervisor ever saw, or was otherwise aware of, any whole side
shaver operator removing or lifting the grating for clean-up purposes without
shutting off the auger. Respondent's supervisors had never noticed the auger
running with the grating open during clean-up, and there were no reports of
such violations. They had never encountered any safety problem with the
sub-floor auger system, the lockout procedures, or the gratings.
19. Respondent's supervisors had no reason to mistrust the ability or
willingness of the experienced operators on the whole side shaver machines to
follow the clean-up procedures and lockout safety measures. None of these
operators had a record of safety infractions.
20. Respondent has never been cited for any serious or non-serrious OSHA
violations with respect to either the whole side shaver machines or the
sub-floor auger mechanism.
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21. On December 4, 1986, Dayle Banitt and Bill Benson cleaned up
together. At the moment the accident happened they were wiping down their
machines with rags, and Bill Benson was talking with their supervisor, Burton
Christianson. Meanwhile, Larry Wahlund had begun his clean-up routine by
himself. He had cleaned off -the whole side shaver with the airhose, and
removed the metal grate to sweep the debris arond his machine into the
running auger. He then began to wipe down the machine without replacing the
metal grate. A few moments later, he accidently stepped into the running
auger.
22. He began screaming and Bill Benson and Day le Banitt simultaneously
punched the auger shut-off buttons on their machines. He had wedged his foot
in the auger. Maintenance personnel had to cut some of the iron away to
remove it. As a result of the accident, his right foot was amputated below
the ankle.
23. On January 5, 1987, Jim Emmons inspected Respondent's facility in his
capacity as a Senior Safety Investigator for Complainant. The accident
precipitated the inspection which was limited to the area and
instrumentalities involved in the injury.
24. Mr. Emmons held an opening conference with David [- Diercks, Plant
Superintendent, Jerry Dietzman, Personnel Manager, and Bernard Carlen, Union
President.
25. Mr. Emmons then conducted a walkaround inspection of relevant areas
and interviewed Larry Wahlund, Dayle Banitt and Bill Benson.
26. At a closing conference, Inspector Emmons informed Mr. Diercks, Mr.
Dietzman and Mr. Carlen that his investigation was complete and that citations
might be issued. Mr. Dietzman stated that any citation issued as a result of
Mr. Wahlund's accident would be contested.
2 7 . On January 13, 1987, the OSHA Director cited Respondent for violating
Minn. Stat. 182.653, subd. 2. This statutory section is commonly referred
to as the General Duty Clause.
28. The citation alleged that:
Minn. Stat. 182.653, subd. 2 (1984): The employer failed
to furnish I= o each o f h is employees conditions of
employment and a p I ace of employment free from recogn i zed
hazards which caused or were likely to cause death or
serious injury to his employees; specifically: Inadequate
instruction and supervision were not (sic) provided for
employees during cleanup operations on the three whole side
shavers in the splitting department so that employees were
not (sic) exposed to the sub-floor auger system on December
4, 1986. The metal floor grate was not secured in place
nor was the lock-out procedure used by employees on several
previous occasions.
2 9 . On February 13, 1987, the Respondent duly contested the citation
causing Complainant to issue a complaint on March 13, 1987.
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30. In his Personal Interview Statement executed soon after the incident
took place, Wahlund stated that he knew the auger was supposed to be shut off
anytime the protective grating was raised. Five days after the incident,
Wahlund similarly admitted to Respondent's personnel manager that he knew he
had been told not to remove the grating while the auger was operating, but did
so nevertheless because he thought it would make the clean-up process
"quicker." He admitted removing the gratings was a "stupid shortcut."
31. Another OSHA inspector had inspected Respondent's facility three
months before the Wahlund incident, including the whole side shaver area. No
citation was made with respect to the sub-floor auger, the posted safety
instructions, or the whole side shaver machines.
3 2 . The National Safety Council's survey of frequency of lost time
injuries indicates that Respondent had less than half the lost time injury
rate of the average tannery in Respondent's business category.
33. Complainant gave Respondent the maximum credit in calculating the
citation penalty herein because Respondent had a good overall safety record.
34. Respondent has disciplined employees when necessary for safety
infractions, and employees are aware that safety violations may lead to
disciplinary measures. In 1978, a disciplinary layoff of an employee for a
safety violation led to a company-wide union walkout. All of the employees
involved herein were employed at that time and understood the emphasis the
company places on safety.
Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact, the Administrative Law Judge
makes the following:
CONCLUSIONS
1. That the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Review Board and
the Administrative Law Judge have jurisdiction herein and authority to take
the action proposed pursuant to Minn. Stat. 182.661, subd. 3, 182.664 and
14.50.
2. That the Board gave proper notice of ithis hearing and that the
Complainant and the Board have fulfilled all relevant substantive and
procedural requirements of law and rule.
3. That the Respondent is an employer as defined by Minn. Stat.
182.651, sub. 7.
4. That the employees involved are employees as defined by Minn. Stat.
182.651, subd. 9.
5. That Complainant bears the burden of proof by a fair preponderance of
reliable and probative evidence with respect to the alleged violation of the
general duty clause and Respondent bears that burden on the affirmative
defense of employee misconduct.
6. That the Respondent recognized that the sub-floor- auger system posed
a hazard and foresaw that splitting department employees would be exposed to
it.
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7 . That the Respondent recognized the hazard was likely to cause serious
physical injury.
8. That Respondent's safety procedures were adequate to prevent exposure
to the recognized hazard in this case.
9. That Complainant has not shown by a preponderance of the evidence
that Respondent failed to render its workplace free of the recognized hazard.
10. That there may have existed other feasible means by which the
Respondent could have abated the recognized hazard of the sub-floor auger.
Such feasibility was not contested by Respondent.
11. That Respondent's clean-up procedures and lockout rules were
adequately communicated to its employees.
12. That Respondent took legally adequate steps to assure compliance with
the clean-up and lockout safety rules.
13. That the Wahlund incident was not legally reasonably "foreseeable".
14. That Larry Wahlund's actions leading up to the accident on December
4, 1986 constituted employee misconduct.
15. That Citation 1, Item 1, for which the Complainant proposed a
penalty, properly alleged that the conduct, if proven, would constitute a
serious violation for purposes of Minn. Stat. 182.651, subd. 12.
16. That the penalty proposed for the Respondent's alleged violation of
Minn. Stat. 182.653, subd. 2 was properly computed using the factors set
forth in Minn. Stat. 182.666, subd. 6.
Based upon the foregoing Conclusions, the Administrative Last Judge makes
the following:
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: that the citation be, and the same hereby is,
DISMISSED.
Dated: April 2 1988.
HOWARD L. KAIBEL, JR.
Administrative Law Judge
Reported: Taped. Transcribed by Mary Ann Hintz.
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MEMORANDUM
Although able counsel on both sides of this dispute "touch every base" in
arguing the legalities, only two legal conclusions required research and
elaboration here:
(1) Did Complainant [)rove that Respondent's safety practices and
procedures were inadequate?
(2) If the policies and work rules were adequate to ensure a safe place
of employment, did Respondent fail to adequately enforce them?
There was no dispute here over whether the auger was a recognized hazard
capable of causing serious injury. Company posters graphically depicted this
recognition and unambiguously described protective work rules and procedures.
Special safety equipment was installed including grates, shutoff switches
within reach of each employee and a lockout mechanism, which were all in
perfect working order The rules and procedures were fully communicated tco
and understood by the relevant employees. This case was not comparable to the
cited decision in Brown & Root, Inc.-, 1980 OSHRC 24,853, 8 OSHC (BNA) 2140
where a general oral work rule was not specific enough and was not effectively
communicated to the employees.
Here, the employees knowingly and deliberately violated these policies and
rules with the predictable consequence that one of them was seriously
injured. It is well settled that "Actual occurrence of hazardous conduct is
not, by itself, sufficient evidence of a violation, even when the conduct has
led to injury." National Realty and Construction Company v. OSHRC, (D.C.Cir.
1973) 489 F.2d 1257 at 1267. Complainant still has the burden of establishing
that Respondent's policies and/or enforcement of them were inadequate.
Adequate Safety_Measures?
Respondent does not dispute the feasibility of alternative approaches to
abating the recognized hazard. After the accident, Respondent took additional
measures to r-ender the area safer for employees. Respondent properly made an
evidentiary objection to any consideration of its subsequent remedial actions
which is herewith SUSTAINED. However, the evidence was admitted at the
hearing because of the recent OSHA Review Board decision in CECO Corp., OAH
Docket No. OSHA-87-006-HK. The Administrative Law Judge in that case excluded
such evidence, expressing concern that allowing such evidence would ultimately
harm worker safety by discouraging employers from making improvements whenever
an OSHA citation was pending or anticipated. The Review Board reversed,
contending that the evidentiary rule (407) was for the protection of juries
rather than Administrative Law Judges who should be able to overlook the
prejudicial nature of such evidence because they are learned in the law. In
judicial proceedings, the exclusionary rule for such evidence is applied
equally, whether the case is tried by a judge or to a jury, recognizing that
both are human and potentially swayed by improper or unfair evidence. The
Review Board decision does not explain why administrative hearing records
which are ordinarily reviewed by agency commissioners or other reviewers who
are not necessarily learned in the law should contain such evidence.
The evidentiary rule has a permissive exception where "feasibility" is an
issue and "feasibility" was specifically raised in that case as an affirmative
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defense. He re, Respondent has exp I ic it 1y st ipu Iated that the f ea s i b i 1 ity of
alternative abatement procedures or methods is not an issue. Under these
circumstances, if the rule is to have any meaning at all, the evidence must be
excluded. However, because of the CECO decision, Complainant was allowed to
make a record on the matter which has been and ought to continue to be duly
disregarded herein.
Respondent requests only that the protective methods, procedures,
equipment and work rules that it selected and installed be judged adequate.
Where the employer has a mechanism designed to eliminate a
hazardous condition, the burden is on the secretary to
establish that the employer's measures were inadequate.
Inland Steel, 1986 OSHD 27,647, 12 OSHC (BNA) 1986.
Inland was a case where an employee was killed in a railroad car accident.
The respondent proved that it had adopted rules which were adequate to prevent
the accident and that those rules were properly communicated tco the relevant
employees, were posted and were understood by those employees who filled out
safety contact cards which were maintained by the company in its safety
records. Although some switchmen had sometimes clearly violated these safety
rules, the Commission decided that there was no general duty violation.
Inland had monitored compliance and disciplined employees for past
infractions. The Commission upheld the Administrative Law Judge's
determination that the rules were adequate and properly communicated tc) the
employees and that the evidence did not sustain the allegation that the
employer failed to adequately enforce its rules. There was no evidence there
(as here) to indicate that any other industry anywhere had adopted more
rigorous abatement measures to deal with this commonly recognized danger.
In this case, the Employer's carefully selected hazard abatement
procedures ware manifestly adequate, including the "lock-out" mechanism where
employees put the key in their pocket to ensure that the auger could never be
energized whenever the protective grating was removed. The equipment and
"fail-safe" redundant work rules and procedures were more than adequate to
provide a safe work place, absent deliberate disobedience. As in Pelron
Corp., 1986 OSHD 27,605, where the employer adopted a 4-step safety
procedure and adequately communicated those precautions to thE employees,
complainant must do more than merely assert that respondent's safety method is
inadequate. He must produce evidence substantiating such a conclusion. Here,
Complainant did not introduce evidence that the safety procedures were
substandard or somehow inherently unsafe. Consequently, Complainant has not
established by a preponderance of the evidence that Respondent's hazard
abatement program was inadequate.
Adequaty Enforcement?
"Paper" work rules and procedures do not render 3 workplace safE- from
recognized hazards. Employers cannot "look the other way" when employees
violate work rmles and subsequently hide behind the employee "misconduct".
Employers mwst take reasonably adequate steps to ensure that their programs
and rules are enforced.
The adequacy of an employer's "hands-on" enforcement protocol is difficult
to second guess. The question arises infrequently because it only needs to be
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addressed when a conscientious employer has legally come four-f ifths of the
way to unquestionable compliance: (1) It recognized the hazard; (2) it
adopted adequate precautionary policies and rules to eliminate the hazard; (3)
it adequately communicated these policies and rules to the employees; and (4)
it made it clear generally to both employees and supervisors that infractions
of safety rules would be important enough to the company to result in
meaningful discipline.
The last one-fifth of -this formulation involves enforcement of safety
rules. Employers are not required to have a supervisor-enforcer constantly
looking over the shoulder of every employee at all times, particularly where
the employees are skilled and experienced. Brennan v. OSHRC (Hanovia Lamp
Division), (3rd.Cir. 1974) 502 F Ad 946. The more a respondent looks over
employees' shoulders however, the more likely it is that supervisors
overlooking misconduct will be found guilty of inadequate enforcement. On the
other hand, they must look over employees' shoulders with at least enough
frequency to properly enforce the company safety rules. If the company
doesn't employ adequate trained, conscientious supervisors in the worksite to
insure safety, it would also be guilty of negligent enforcement. The ultimate
question presented is always consequently whether Respondent adequately
supervised its worksite, without being impliedly negligent for failure to
discover any breaches of its safety rules.
Here, the question must be answered affirmatively. The employees were
skilled, experienced and had no record of safety violations. Safety personnel
regularly inspected the workplace, including OSHA inspectors recently and
supervisors (who knew that safety was the most important part of their job) on
a daily basis. There was not the slightest hint to the company that
enforcement supervision was inadequate.
Complainant cites Jensen Construction Company, 1979 OSHD 1 23,664 for the
proposition that Respondent's enforcement was inadequate. This is not Jensen,
where there was evidence that the supervisor was aware of several instances of
recent violations of -the work rule including one where a worker at the same
site had recently fallen to his death and the supervisor had himself breached
the company safety policy.
Likewise, this is not the second case cited by Complainant, Ted Wilkerson,
Inc . , 1 981 OSHD 25,551. There, three employees working in different parts
of the worksite were working without fall protection in plain view of both the
supervisor responsible for enforcing the work rule and the OSHA inspector.
Respondent had been twice cited before for failure to require safety belts,
causing the Commission to conclude that Respondent was legally on-notice of
the need for more effective enforcement of its work rule. In this case, the
employee acknowledged hiding his violations from supervisors and there was
nothing to put Respondent on notice of the need for more effective enforcement
of auger safety precautions.
The only other case cited by Complainant is New England Telephone and
Telegraph Company, 1983 OSHD 26,535. This case highlights the difficulty of
judging the employer's hands-on enforcement efforts. -We employer had a work
rule requiring the use of plainly visible pole-guards which had never been
enforced. One employee testified that he did not use pole-guards on more than
50 previous occasions. The rule had not been effectively communicated to
another employee.
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A divided Commission nonetheless vacated a citation for failure to use
pole-guards. One Commissioner felt that the employer did not have effective
legal knowledge of the violation and another concluded that this was a case of
employee misconduct. However, the Commission affirmed a citation for failure
to enforce use of insulated gloves, contending that more rigorous enforcement
of this rule was required because the failure to use gloves could not be
detected by ordinary observation.
The attached Report concludes that this is a case of unforeseen misconduct
by employees who all admitted that they knew better. It is similar to
Consolidated Edison Company of New York, 1980 OSHD 24,406 8 OSHA (BNA) 1550,
where respondent was not held liable for the unforeseeable recklessness of
three employees who removed a protective barrier, ignoring prohibitive work
rules. C.F. 2nd Montclair 1979 OSHD 23,697, 70 OSHC (BNA) 1698.
The most strikingly similar legal precedent encountered in researching
this matter was not cited by either party, but appears indistinguishable. In
Cerro Metal Products Division._ Marmon Group Inc., 12 BNA OSHC 1822, 1986 OSHD
27,579, employees performed maintenance on a recognized hazard without
de-energizing it. The de-energization rule was communicated to all of the
relevant employees and was posted at the site of the hazard. One employee was
killed. The surviving employee was an experienced worker with specialized
knowledge of the operation to be performed. There was no history of accidents
involving the hazard and all of the employees fully understood the
precautionary work rule. nonetheless, employees testified that short
maintenance operations of 15 to 20 minutes were sometimes made without
de-energization and no employee had ever been disciplined for a violation of
the rule. There was no evidence that supervisors were aware of these
violations. A shift foreman who spent about one-third of his time supervising
maintenance and repairs on the hazardous equipment testified that he had never
seen maintenance or repair work performed while the hazardous equipment was
energized. There had been ro previous accidents or injuries caused by failure
to de-energize or any reports of any rule violations. Both operators had
perfect safety records. The evidence did not establish that supervisory
personnel could have foreseen the need for additional precautions at the time
of the accident. Noting that there was a "clear admission of employee
misconduct" by one of the employees, the Review Commission reversed an
Administrative Law Judge's decision and vacated the citation. The same result
is appropriate in this case.
H.L.K., Jr.