Opinion ID: 2453356
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: OSHA Regulation

Text: The district judge included in his instructions to the jury a description of OSHA Reg. 1910.23(a)(8), which deals with precautions to be taken when there is a hole in a workplace floor. The jury was told Herrell alleged that her injuries and damages were caused by National Beef's violation of the industry standard set by the regulation, and the general verdict form did not permit the jury to designate whether all or part of the damages awarded to Herrell were attributable to any particular legal theory. In other words, we cannot be certain on the record before us whether the OSHA regulation played any role in the jury's decision or, if it did play a role, how to account for it on this appeal. This uncertainty matters because Herrell's OSHA regulation violation theory of recovery is foreclosed by Dillard 's first substantive holding. It qualifies as a direct negligence action against National Beef based on its alleged violation of a nondelegable regulatory duty. This claim is legally indistinguishable from that dependent on the archbishop's and archdiocese' failure to ensure the performance of inspections under the building code. See Dillard, 255 Kan. at 727, 877 P.2d 371. Thus, Dillard does control this theory; no duty arose, and the claim should have been disposed of as a matter of law. Its inclusion in the jury instructions, with no opportunity for the jury to differentiate any liability based upon it in the general verdict form, polluted the trial of this case and necessitates reversal. Because of our holding that National Beef did have a typical landowner duty of reasonable care, however, we agree with Judge McAnany that this case must be remanded for further district court proceedings, not merely for entry of judgment as a matter of law in favor of National Beef.