Opinion ID: 557800
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: OSHA Inspections

Text: 41 Section 8(a) of the OSH Act, codified at 29 U.S.C. Sec. 657(a), authorizes the Secretary to conduct searches under certain circumstances: 42 [T]he Secretary, upon presenting the appropriate credentials to the owner, operator, or agent in charge, is authorized-- 43 (1) to enter without delay and at reasonable times any factory, plant, establishment, construction site, or other area, workplace or environment where work is performed by an employee of an employer; and 44 (2) to inspect and investigate during regular working hours and at other reasonable times, and within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner, any such place of employment and all pertinent conditions, structures, machines, apparatus, devices, equipment, and materials therein, and to question privately any such employer, owner, operator, agent or employee. 45 Inspections are also mandated under section 8(f) of the OSH Act, codified at 29 U.S.C. Sec. 657(f), which provides: 46 (1) Any employees or representative of employees who believe that a violation of a safety or health standard exists that threatens physical harm, or that an imminent danger exists, may request an inspection by giving notice to the Secretary or his authorized representative of such violation or danger.... If upon receipt of such notification the Secretary determines there are reasonable grounds to believe that such violation or danger exists, he shall make a special inspection in accordance with the provisions of this section as soon as practicable, to determine if such violation or danger exists.... 47 OSHA is limited in its authority to inspect under these statutory provisions by the Fourth Amendment. In Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. at 534, 87 S.Ct. at 1733, the Supreme Court held that the administrative searches conducted without a warrant procedure in that case violated the Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable searches. Id. The Court concluded, therefore, that Camara could not on the basis of the facts alleged, constitutionally be convicted for refusing to consent to an inspection by a San Francisco health inspector because he had a constitutional right to insist that the inspector obtain a warrant to search. Id. at 540, 87 S.Ct. at 1737. In setting forth the standard for probable cause to support an administrative search warrant, the Court examined the governmental interest justifying official intrusion upon a citizen's rights and concluded that the primary governmental interest at stake is to prevent even the unintentional development of conditions which are hazardous to public health and safety. Id. at 535, 87 S.Ct. at 1734. Stating that code enforcement inspections had long enjoyed public acceptance, that the public interest demanded abatement of dangerous conditions, and that such inspections involved a relatively limited invasion of the citizen's privacy, the Court concluded that routine, periodic safety code enforcement inspections were reasonable. Id. at 537, 87 S.Ct. at 1735. In light of its conclusion that such searches were reasonable, the Court noted that probable cause to issue a warrant for an administrative search: 48 must exist if reasonable legislative or administrative standards for conducting an area inspection are satisfied with respect to a particular dwelling. Such standards, which will vary with the municipal program being enforced, may be based upon the passage of time, the nature of the building (e.g., a multi-family apartment house), or the condition of the entire area, but they will not necessarily depend upon specific knowledge of the condition of the particular dwelling. 49 Id. at 538, 87 S.Ct. at 1736. 50 The Supreme Court later confirmed that this relaxed standard for establishing probable cause for an administrative search warrant applied to OSHA inspections. In Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc., 436 U.S. 307, 98 S.Ct. 1816, 56 L.Ed.2d 305 (1978), the Court held that, notwithstanding the broad statutory language of section 8(a), OSHA nonconsensual inspections require a search warrant supported by probable cause under the Fourth Amendment; however, the Court distinguished probable cause for such an administrative search from [p]robable cause in the criminal sense. Id. at 320, 98 S.Ct. at 1824. The Court rejected the premise that the Secretary necessarily had to demonstrate probable cause that conditions in violation of the OSH Act existed on the premises; rather, for an administrative search, a warrant may be based not only on specific evidence of an existing violation but also on a showing that 'reasonable legislative or administrative standards for conducting an ... inspection are satisfied with respect to a particular [establishment].'  Id. at 320, 98 S.Ct. at 1824 (quoting Camara, 387 U.S. at 538, 87 S.Ct. at 1736). The Court held, therefore, that Barlow's was entitled to a declaratory judgment that the Act is unconstitutional insofar as it purports to authorize inspections without warrant or its equivalent and to an injunction enjoining the Act's enforcement to that extent. 436 U.S. at 325, 98 S.Ct. at 1827. 51 While the Act must, of course, be understood with the foregoing constitutional standards in mind, we agree with the Secretary that nothing in it or any Supreme Court decision confines section 8(a) inspections to programmed inspections pursuant to an administrative plan. The language of section 8(a) suggests a broad grant of authority to the Secretary to conduct reasonable inspections in that it permits entry to any establishment or other area to inspect any such place of employment and all pertinent conditions. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 657(a). The statute is notably devoid of any requirement that inspections be made pursuant to an administrative plan or scheme; Congress could have indicated as much if it intended this restriction. In fact, the legislative history supports the interpretation that section 8(a) is a broad grant of authority to conduct reasonable inspections, in contrast to section 8(f)(1), which is not a grant of authority but rather imposes a requirement that the Secretary inspect under certain circumstances. See S.Rep. No. 1282, 91st Cong., 2d Sess. (1970) reprinted in 1970 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 5177, 5187-89 (government personnel given right of entry to carry out effective safety and health program and section 8(f) entitles employees to special inspection as soon as practicable upon complaint that health or safety violation exists). See also Marshall v. Horn Seed Co., Inc., 647 F.2d 96, 100 n. 3 (10th Cir.1981); Burkart Randall Division of Textron, Inc. v. Marshall, 625 F.2d 1313, 1321 (7th Cir.1980). 52 Additionally, the Secretary has interpreted section 8(a) as a broad grant of authority subject only to the limitation that inspections be within reasonable limits and made during regular working hours and at other reasonable times and this interpretation is entitled to deference, if reasonable. Secretary of Labor v. Aluminum Coil Anodizing Corp., 1 O.S.H.Cas. (BNA) 1508, 1509 (Review Comm'n 1974). While this interpretation is limited by the Supreme Court's later decision in Barlow's, nothing in Barlow's or Camara supports the district court's conclusion that the only means for the Secretary to establish probable cause for an administrative warrant to search under section 8(a) is by an administrative plan containing specific neutral criteria. Rather, both cases indicate that this means of establishing probable cause is available to the Secretary in addition to the conventional means of establishing probable cause, that is, by specific evidence of a violation. Barlow's, 436 U.S. at 320, 98 S.Ct. at 1824 (probable cause justifying the issuance of a warrant may be based not only on specific evidence of an existing violation but also on a showing that 'reasonable legislative or administrative standards for conducting an ... inspection are satisfied with respect to a particular [establishment]' ) (emphasis added); Camara, 387 U.S. at 538, 87 S.Ct. at 1736 (probable cause exists if reasonable legislative or administrative standards for conducting an area inspection are satisfied for a particular site and that such standards will not necessarily depend on specific knowledge of the condition of the site) (emphasis added). 53 This interpretation is widely accepted. See In Re Establishment Inspection of Cerro Copper Products Co., 752 F.2d 280, 282 (7th Cir.1985) (administrative probable cause based on (1) specific evidence of existing violation, or (2) reasonable legislative or administrative standards); West Point-Pepperell, 689 F.2d at 957 (administrative probable cause based on either (1) specific evidence of existing violation, or (2) reasonable legislative or administrative standards); Donovan v. Federal Clearing Die Casting Co., 655 F.2d 793, 796 (7th Cir.1981) (Barlow's Court enunciated two alternative methods to establish administrative probable cause: (1) specific evidence of existing violation, and (2) reasonable legislative or administrative standards); Chicago Zoological Society v. Donovan, 558 F.Supp. 1147, 1152 (N.D.Ill.1983) (administrative probable cause demonstrated by one of two avenues: (1) specific evidence of existing violation, (2) reasonable legislative or administrative standards). We recognize that language from some cases arguably implies that all section 8(a) cases must involve an administrative plan and that all specific evidence cases are section 8(f)(1) cases; however, we have concluded that on this point the cases are not persuasive and decline to follow them to the extent they suggest that all section 8(a) inspections must be programmed inspections. See Donovan v. A.A. Beiro Construction Co., Inc., 746 F.2d 894, 903 (D.C.Cir.1984); Donovan v. Sarasota Concrete Co., 693 F.2d 1061, 1068 (11th Cir.1982); Donovan v. Blue Ridge Pressure Castings, Inc., 543 F.Supp. 53, 57 (M.D.Pa.1981). 54 We conclude, therefore, that the district court erred in its determination that the Secretary was required to show an administrative plan pursuant to which International Matex was selected for inspection under section 8(a); in fact, the Secretary may establish probable cause to inspect by specific evidence of violations at the facility. Having misinterpreted the relevant precedents, the district court erroneously relied on cases which could not be persuasive here, as in those cases there was no specific evidence of violations. See Northwest Airlines, 587 F.2d at 15; Weyerhaeuser, 456 F.Supp. at 484; Reynolds Metals, 442 F.Supp. at 201. These cases simply cannot be helpful on the resolution of the proper inquiry of whether there was probable cause for the warrant in this specific evidence case. 55 The district court compounded its error when it determined that because no probable cause existed for a section 8(a) inspection the entire warrant was defective, and it could avoid the effect of the specific complaints under section 8(f). The court relied on In Re Establishment Inspection of Northwest Airlines, Inc., 587 F.2d at 15, for the premise that investigations pursuant to employee complaints must be made pursuant to a plan or program and, having determined no plan existed, it need not reach the section 8(f)(1) issue. International Matex, slip op. at 14. In Northwest Airlines, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that, because the Secretary's affidavit failed to set forth sufficient information for the magistrate to determine whether there was a reasonable legislative or administrative program to perform the search, a search warrant based on an employee complaint was not supported by probable cause under Barlow's. Northwest Airlines, 587 F.2d at 15. Barlow's, however, addresses only inspections under section 8(a) and does not consider constitutional requirements for section 8(f)(1) inspections based on employee complaints. The Northwest Airlines court did not identify a compelling factual difference between that case and Barlow's; in Barlow's, there was no employee complaint and no specific evidence of violations. 56 Notably, a later opinion from the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit did not suggest that there was a programmed inspection requirement for applications based on employee complaints. See Burkart Randall, 625 F.2d at 1322. In addition, other courts of appeals do not consider existence of an administrative plan a prerequisite to finding probable cause based on employee complaints. See, e.g., West Point-Pepperell, 689 F.2d at 958; Horn Seed, 647 F.2d at 104. Because Barlow's does not address the constitutional requirements in employee complaint cases, we decline to follow Northwest Airlines to the extent it holds that searches based on employee complaints require a programmed inspection. Employee complaints are merely one type of specific evidence that the magistrate may evaluate to determine whether probable cause to inspect is established. Accordingly, the district court erred by relying on Northwest Airlines to avoid consideration of whether the complaints of the mayor and the union president sufficed to show probable cause. 57