Opinion ID: 5121820
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: Tradesmen Citations Tradesmen contracted with Dochnahl Construction to provide temporary workers on an as-needed basis. Under the contract, Tradesmen had exclusive responsibility to pay wages and was obligated to provide compensation, including wages and benefits, taxes, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation insurance. Per the contractual agreement, the host employer, Dochnahl, was “solely responsible for directing, supervising and controlling Tradesmen employees as well as their work.” Tradesmen Admin. Record (No. 79634-8-I) (T- AR) at 754. The contract included a safety clause stating: Client [Dochnahl] agrees to provide Tradesmen workers a safe work environment that complies with all applicable Federal OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. §§ 651678] and/or equivalent state agency standards. Client agrees to provide Tradesmen workers any specific safety training and/or equipment required for their work assignment, exclusive of boots, hard hats and safety glasses. Client [Dochnahl] will ensure Tradesmen workers wear all required safety equipment, as well as inspect, maintain and replace this equipment as needed. Client [Dochnahl] agrees to notify Tradesmen immediately in the event of an accident or medical treatment of any Tradesmen worker. Client [Dochnahl] will provide Tradesmen a completed supervisor report of the accident/medical treatment, and Tradesmen shall have the right to conduct an onsite investigation with Client cooperation. T-AR at 754. 3 No. 99031-0 (consol. with 99032-8) In April 2016, Tradesmen assigned a temporary worker to a Dochnahl jobsite on Federal Avenue in Seattle. Prior to his assignment, a field representative of Tradesmen inspected the Federal Avenue site for safety hazards and did not identify any concerns. If Tradesmen had identified a hazard, the field representative testified that the Tradesmen worker would not be allowed to continue working without changes. The Tradesmen field representative checked in with the workers via phone and instructed workers to contact him with safety concerns. Dochnahl reassigned the worker to a different jobsite on Palatine Avenue in Seattle. The Tradesmen field representative testified that under a verbal agreement, the host employers agreed to notify Tradesmen if a temporary worker was relocated to another work site. He testified that host employers often called and notified him about relocating Tradesmen workers. In this instance, Dochnahl did not notify Tradesmen of the change, as a result, Tradesmen did not inspect the Palatine work site. The Department received a referral regarding the Palatine work site and sent William Keely to the site. Keely identified an unsafe trench and scaffolding onsite. The Tradesmen worker was working near the hazards. The Department cited 4 No. 99031-0 (consol. with 99032-8) Tradesmen for two serious WISHA violations, stemming from the worker’s exposure to scaffold hazards and the lack of fall protection. 2 On appeal, the Board agreed with the ruling of the industrial appeals judge (IAJ) that Tradesmen was not a liable employer. The Board cited a lack of control over the worker and work environment. Specifically, the Board found 2. . . . . [u]nder the agreements the client is solely responsible to direct and supervise the workers provided by Tradesmen and their work; to provide the worker with safety training specific to the work being done; to provide a safe work environment that complies with all applicable state and Federal health and safety standards . . . . 3. Tradesmen inspects each worksite to which it is informed that its workers are dispatched to ensure compliance with applicable safety and health laws, and will direct that corrections to any safety and health problems it discovers be effected. T-AR at 10. The Board found that Tradesmen did not control the Tradesmen worker, the work he was performing, the Palatine work site, or the work environment. The Department appealed to the superior court. The superior court affirmed the Board’s decision and vacated the citations. The Court of Appeals affirmed, applying the “economic realities” test articulated in Potelco, Inc. v. Dep’t of Labor & Indus., 191 Wn. App. 9, 30-31, 361 P.3d 767 (2015). Laborworks Citations 2 Dochnahl was a subcontractor on the Palatine site, the general contractor was JAS Design Build. Both Dochnahl and JAS were also cited for the WISHA violations. 5 No. 99031-0 (consol. with 99032-8) Laborworks contracted with Strategic to provide temporary workers to sort recycling and waste at Strategic’s recycling plant. The workers at Strategic sorted various materials, which could include glass and needles. Under the contract, Laborworks hired and on-boarded the workers, paid the wages, and provided benefits, paid taxes, provided unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation. The host employer, Strategic, was required to “[p]roperly supervise, control, and safeguard its premises, processes, or systems.” Laborworks Admin. Record (No. 79717-4-I) (L-AR) at 504. Strategic was also obligated to [p]rovide [Laborworks] [e]mployees with a safe work site, comply with all governmental laws as they may apply, including but not limited to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA), . . . and provide appropriate information, training, and safety equipment with respect to any hazardous substances or conditions to which they may be exposed at the work site. L-AR at 504. Strategic could not change the workers’ job duties without Laborworks’ approval. Laborworks provides a general labor and industries blood-borne pathogens online training to the temporary workers and no additional safety trainings. Laborworks performs a jobsite safety evaluation before workers are assigned to the potential host employer. Laborworks walks through the potential work site with the host employer to ensure that the site is a safe work environment. During the evaluation, Laborworks inquired about safety precautions including the use of equipment, the need for personal protective equipment, and the existence of any 6 No. 99031-0 (consol. with 99032-8) accident prevention programs. At the initial Strategic safety evaluation, Laborworks noted that the workers would be exposed to blood-borne pathogens. It also noted that the workers required safety equipment such as safety glasses, boots, masks, vests, hearing protection, gloves, and hard hats. Laborworks also performs on-site safety evaluations after reported injuries. Laborworks will discuss the incident with the client and can suggest corrective actions. The Laborworks human resources and safety manager testified that this was a collaborative process with the client and that the client ultimately makes the decision regarding corrective actions. If Laborworks disagrees with the client’s decision, they can pull their workers from the site. Other than these visits, Laborworks does not send representatives to jobsites. Once the workers were at the assigned site, Laborworks could not direct workers to use certain equipment or control the methods and processes of the work. Laborworks offered the temporary employees hepatitis B vaccinations for the risk of blood-borne pathogen exposure. The Laborworks manager testified that hepatitis B vaccines must be offered to the employees, but they did not necessarily need to be offered by Laborworks. At the Board hearing, the Laborworks safety and human resources manager testified that besides the vaccination records, Laborworks maintained health information only regarding workers’ compensation 7 No. 99031-0 (consol. with 99032-8) or injuries. Laborworks was also aware of a prior incident in February 2016 where another Laborworks worker was poked by a sharp while at Strategic. In August 2016, the Department performed an inspection of the Strategic plant and discovered that Laborworks temporary workers were being exposed to blood-borne pathogen hazards. The Department discovered that a Laborworks worker was poked by a needle in July 2016. After interviewing Laborworks management and temporary workers, the inspector discovered that several temporary workers worked several months without receiving blood-borne pathogens training and were not screened for hepatitis B. Some workers had not either received a hepatitis B vaccination or submitted a vaccine declination statement. Laborworks kept incomplete documentation of vaccine history or declination for the workers assigned to Strategic. Laborworks received five violation citations after the inspection. 3 An IAJ upheld the citations, finding that Laborworks was a liable employer. The Board reversed and vacated the citations, finding that Laborworks was not a liable employer because it did not control the workplace. Specifically, the Board found that 3 Laborworks was cited for failing to make hepatitis B vaccinations available to all workers, failing to ensure that workers who declined vaccination signed a declination statement, failing to provide reasonable safety equipment to protect from sharps exposure, providing inadequate blood-borne pathogens training, and keeping inadequate medical records. 8 No. 99031-0 (consol. with 99032-8) 4. . . . . LaborWorks paid workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and wages for workers it provided to Strategic, but Strategic determined the base wage rate. LaborWorks also provided initial training to workers it sent to Strategic but performed no random site checks at the premises. 5. Both LaborWorks and Strategic maintained the right to terminate workers. However, Strategic exerted daily control over the employees by assigning work and providing supervision over the LaborWorks workers. L-AR at 7-8. Based on these facts, the Board concluded that Laborworks was not an employer under the economic realities test and vacated the citations. The Department appealed to the superior court, which reversed the Board decision and reinstated the citations. The superior court ruled that Laborworks was an employer for WISHA purposes. The Court of Appeals reversed and vacated the citations. Dep’t of Labor & Indus. v. Laborworks Indus. Staffing Specialists, Inc., No. 79717-4-I (Wash. Ct. App. Aug. 17, 2020) (unpublished), https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/797174.pdf. It applied the “economic realities” test from Potelco, 191 Wn. App. at 30-31, and determined that Laborworks was not a liable employer.