Case Title: State ex rel. Oliver v. Southeastern Erectors, Inc.

Citation: 1996-Ohio-160

Docket Number: 19941645

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 1996-07-03T00:00:00Z

Document:
The State ex rel. Oliver, Appellant, v. Southeastern Erectors, Inc.; Industrial 
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Commission of Ohio, Appellee. 
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[Cite as State ex rel. Oliver v. Southeastern Erectors, Inc. (1996), ____ 
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Ohio St.3d ______.] 
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Workers’ compensation -- Violation of a specific safety requirement 
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-- Industrial Commissioner’s refused to consider whether Ohio 
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Adm.Code 4121:1-3-03(J)(1) was violated is an abuse of 
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discretion, when. 
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(No. 94-1645 -- Submitted April 30, 1996 -- Decided July 3, 1996.) 
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Appeal from the Court of Appeals for Franklin County, No. 
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93APD04-597. 
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Appellant-claimant, Homer Oliver, was injured on March 2, 1987, 
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while in the course of and arising from his employment with Southeastern 
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Erectors, Inc.  After his workers’ compensation claim was allowed, he 
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moved appellee, Industrial Commission of Ohio, for additional 
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compensation, alleging violations of several specific safety requirements 
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(“VSSR”) by his employer.  His application described his accident as 
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follows: 
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“Claimant was [engaged] in roofing on a flat roof 30 ft. high when a 
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strong wind caused the insulation he was working with to become caught in 
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his legs.  The wind blew him off the roof.” 
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The application alleged violations of Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-
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09(E)(1),(E)(2), (F)(1) and (F)(2), and 4121:1-3-03(L)(1). 
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On March 21, 1989, a special investigator for the commission noted 
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that, “at the time of the accident the claimant was wearing a safety belt but 
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there was nothing for him to hook onto.  * * * [T]here was no catch 
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platform, railings or similar barriers of any kind on the building.  * * * 
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[T]here was no safety net used or available on the job site.”  On September 
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14, 1989, claimant’s counsel, for the first time, informed the commission 
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that the quoted passage suggested a violation of Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-
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03(J)(1), which had not been cited originally. 
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At the hearing on his motion, appellant conceded the inapplicability 
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of Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-09(E)(1), (E)(2) and (F)(1).  Subsequently, a 
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commission staff hearing officer found Ohio Adm. Code 4121:3-09(F)(2) 
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and (L)(1) to be inapplicable in this case, and refused to consider the 
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claimed violation of Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-03(J)(1) for the reason that 
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the allegation had not been timely raised. 
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On March 20, 1991, the commission granted claimant’s request for 
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rehearing “* * * for the reason it has been demonstrated that the order of 
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January 7, 1991, was based on an obvious mistake of law.  The obvious 
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mistake of law is: failure to allow an amendment to the application to 
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include 4121:1-3-03(J)(1) * * *.” 
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On rehearing, the commission again found Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-
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3-09(F)(2) and (L)(1) inapplicable.  The commission also reaffirmed its 
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conclusion that claimant had untimely asserted a violation of Ohio Adm. 
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Code 4121:1-3-03(J)(1).  Further reconsideration was denied. 
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Claimant filed a complaint in mandamus in the Court of Appeals for 
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Franklin County, alleging that the commission abused its discretion in 
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finding no VSSRs and in failing to consider Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-
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03(J)(1).  The court of appeals denied the writ. 
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This cause is now before this court upon an appeal as of right. 
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____________________ 
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Bella, Crosthwaite & Newman and Ronald T. Bella, for appellant. 
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Betty D. Montgomery, Attorney General, and Cheryl J. Nester, 
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Assistant Attorney General, for appellee. 
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______________________ 
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Per Curiam.  Claimant accuses the commission of abusing its 
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discretion in finding Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-09(F)(2) inapplicable, 1 and  
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refusing to consider whether Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-03(J)(1) was 
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violated.  We are persuaded by claimant’s second contention only. 
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To successfully assert a VSSR, a claimant must establish that his or 
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her injury resulted from the employer’s failure to comply with a specific 
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safety requirement.  State ex rel. Whitman v. Indus. Comm. (1936), 131 
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Ohio St. 375, 6 O.O. 88, 3 N.E.2d 52.  A requirement is sufficiently specific 
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when it “embraces such lawful, specific and definite requirements or 
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standards of conduct * * * which are of a character plainly to apprise an 
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employer of his legal obligation toward his employees.”  State ex rel. Trydle 
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v. Indus. Comm. (1972), 32 Ohio St.2d 257, 61 O.O.2d 488, 291 N.E.2d 
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748, paragraph one of the syllabus. 
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At issue is Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-09(F)(2), which reads in part: 
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“(F)  Catch platforms for pitched and flat roofs 
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“(1)  Catch platforms for pitched roofs 
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“On pitched roofs with a rise of four inches in twelve or greater, 
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sixteen feet or more above ground, and not having a parapet of at least thirty 
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inches in height, catch platforms shall be installed.  The platform shall 
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extend two feet beyond the projection of the eaves and shall be provided 
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with a standard guardrail substantially fixed in place.  Safety belts attached 
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to a lifeline which is securely fastened to the structure may be used in lieu 
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of a catch platform.   
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“(2)  For flat roofs 
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“On flat roofs not having a parapet of at least thirty inches in height, a 
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standard guardrail substantially fixed in place may be used.  Safety belts 
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attached to a lifeline which is securely fastened to the structure may be used 
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in lieu of a standard guardrail.”  (Emphasis added.) 
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Citing the provision’s use of the term “may,” the commission found 
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that Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-09(F)(2) imposed no mandatory specific 
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duties on the employer and could not, therefore, form the basis of a VSSR.  
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1 Appellant appears to concede the inapplicability of Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-09(L)(1) to this case. 
 
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Claimant counters that when read with provision (F)(1), provision (F)(2) did 
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impose a mandatory obligation that was not fulfilled.  We disagree.  Even if 
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these provisions couild be read together, we agree with the commission that 
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no mandatory specific duties are apparent to an employer interpreting 
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provision (F)(2).  We therefore hold that the commission did not abuse its 
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discretion in finding Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-09(F)(2) inapplicable 
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herein. 
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Claimant also alleges a violation of Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-
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03(J)(1). He did not, however, cite this section on  his original VSSR 
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application.  Claimant argues that this omission is not fatal, since his 
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application put all parties on notice that a violation of provision (J)(1) was 
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being alleged.  We agree. 
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Adequate notification may exist where an omitted regulation is 
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obviously related to a regulation that was cited or was contained in a rule 
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“immediately proximate” to it.  State ex rel. Kirby v. S.G. Loewendick & 
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Sons, Inc. (1992), 64 Ohio St.3d 433, 437, 596 N.E.2d 460, 463.  In this 
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case, we find the requisite similarity in content.   
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Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-03(J)(1) provides:  
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“Lifelines, safety belts and lanyards shall be provided by the 
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employer and it shall be the responsibility of the employee to wear such 
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equipment when engaged in securing or shifting thrustouts, inspecting or 
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working on overhead machines that support scaffolds, or on other high 
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rigging, on steeply pitched roofs, by employees that work on poles or steel 
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framed construction, by employees working on all swinging scaffolds, by all 
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employees exposed to hazards of falling when the operation being 
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performed is more than fifteen feet above ground or above a floor or 
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platform, and by employees required to work on stored material in silos, 
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hoppers, tanks, and similar storage areas.  Lifelines and safety belts shall be 
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securely fastened to the structure and shall sustain a static load of no less 
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than five thousand four hundred pounds.” 
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Claimant did not cite this section, but did cite Ohio Adm. Code 
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4121:1-3-03(L)(1), which requires the use of safety  nets where catch 
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platforms or safety belts are impractical.  Kirby, supra, suggested that Ohio 
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Adm. Code 4121:1-3-03(J)(1) and (L)(1) are conceptually similar.  Claimant 
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also cited Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-09(F)(1) and (F)(2), which, like Ohio 
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Adm. Code 4121:1-3-03(J)(1), discussed the use of safety belts and 
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lifelines.  We thus find that the omitted and cited provisions are sufficiently 
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related so as to adequately apprise the parties of a potential violation of 
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Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-03(J)(1) as well.  Accordingly, Ohio Adm. Code 
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4121:1-3-03(J)(1) should be treated as having been raised initially. 
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We, therefore, affirm that portion of the judgment of the court of 
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appeals that found Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-09(F)(2) inapplicable.  That 
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portion of the judgment which found that the commission properly refused 
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to consider the claimed violation of Ohio Adm. Code 4121:1-3-03(J)(1) is 
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reversed, and the cause is returned to the commission for consideration of 
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that alleged violation and an amended order, if any. 
 
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Judgment reversed in part 
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and affirmed in part. 
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MOYER, C.J., DOUGLAS, RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY and STRATTON, JJ., 
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concur. 
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PFEIFER and COOK, JJ., dissent and would affirm the judgment of the 
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court of appeals in its entirety. 
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