Court Opinion

ID: 9748391
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 16:00:59.683416+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:35.020321
License: Public Domain

SCOTLAND, J., Concurring and Dissenting.
I disagree with the majority opinion because I conclude the California Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board (the Board) properly determined that the decedent’s failure to wear a safety belt and lifeline while setting a wooden truss during construction of a multistory steel and wood structure is governed by section 1670, subdivision (a), of the California Code of Regulations rather than section 1710, subdivision (g), of that code.1 At the time he fell, the decedent, a carpenter, was one of several employees who “were walking the wood-covered steel T beams in the interior of the structure, carrying wood trusses and placing [them] in previously prepared metal hangers.”
Section 1670, subdivision (a), is a general regulation governing employees whose work exposes them to falling from the perimeter of a structure, through shaftways and openings, or from certain sloped surfaces. At the time of decedent’s fall, this section required such employees to use approved safety belts and lanyards when exposed to falling in excess of 15 feet. It since has been amended to apply to exposure to a fall in excess of seven and one-half feet.
Section 1710, subdivision (g), is a more specific regulation which governs “Working and Traveling on the Skeleton Steel of Multistory Buildings or Structures.” Subdivision (g) applies to employees who “travel” the periphery or interior of the structure by walking on the top flange of a beam while releasing slings or moving from work point to work point (subd. (g)(3)); to workers who are connecting beams at the periphery or interior of the structure (subd. (g)(1)); and to employees doing “Work Other Than Connecting” (subd. (g)(2)). The traveling and connecting provisions of subdivisions (g)(1) and (g)(3) require tie-off where the fall distance is greater than 30 feet. Subdivision (g)(2) provides: “When performing any other work at a work point, employees shall be protected by approved safety belts and lifelines where the fall distance is greater than 15 feet.”
The Board concluded the tie-off requirements of section 1710, subdivision (g), including subdivision (g)(2), are inapplicable to the facts of this case *651because they apply only to “ironworkers engaged in multistory skeleton steel construction.” According to the Board, “employees engaged in other aspects of the construction of wood frame or steel frame structures,” such as the decedent who was a carpenter setting v/ood trusses, are governed by the safety belt and lanyard requirement of section 1670, subdivision (a).
The trial court and majority disagree. In the majority’s view: “There is nothing in the language [of section 1710, subdivision (g)(2)] to suggest it is limited to certain types of workers.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 649.) Rather, the regulation’s “clear language . . . indicates the tie-off requirements apply to any worker on the skeleton steel of a multistory building,” presumably including carpenters such as the decedent, plumbers, electricians, et cetera. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 649, italics added.) This conclusion does not give due deference to the expertise of the Board and to the Board’s construction of the regulation it enforces.
While the ultimate interpretation of a regulation enforced by an administrative agency is an exercise of judicial power, it is well settled that, because of the agency’s expertise, its interpretation of the regulation is entitled to great weight and will be followed unless clearly erroneous. (Pacific Legal Foundation v. Unemployment Ins. Appeals Bd. (1981) 29 Cal.3d 101, 111 [172 Cal.Rptr. 194, 624 P.2d 244]; Judson Steel Corp. v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (1978) 22 Cal.3d 658, 668 [150 Cal.Rptr. 250, 586 P.2d 564].)
I cannot say the Board’s construction of subdivision (g)(2) is clearly erroneous. Considering its wording and history, the regulation reasonably can be construed to apply only to ironworkers. For starters, subdivision (g)(2) is contained within subdivision (g), which is entitled in pertinent part: “Working ... on the Skeleton Steel of Multistory Buildings or Structures.” (Italics added.) The fact the drafters did not designate subdivision (g) and its subparts as relating to working on the skeleton steel, or on the wood subflooring, or on the electricity, or on the plumbing, et cetera, reasonably can be viewed as an indication the drafters intended the regulations to apply only to ironworkers working on the skeleton steel itself oí the structure.
As previously noted, the safety belt and lifeline requirements of subdivision (g) apply to “connecting” (subd. (g)(1)), “work other than connecting” (subd. (g)(2)), and “traveling” (subd. (g)(3)) on the skeleton steel. Contrary to the majority’s analysis, the fact subdivision (g)(2) refers to “any” work other than connecting does not compel a conclusion that the tie-off requirement of this subdivision applies to all employees other than connectors working on the construction of a multistory skeleton steel structure. What *652the majority overlooks is that ironworkers perform work other than simply connecting the skeleton steel.
In its written decision upholding the civil penalty imposed on Lusardi for violation of a safety regulation which led to the decedent’s death, the Board noted the separate categories of work performed by ironworkers on skeleton steel structures. The first is connecting, in which ironworkers “connect both ends of a new and unsecured structural steel beam or column to the previously assembled structure.” In the Board’s words: “This connecting work must be of short duration, performed from a stationary position and presentís] no greater hazard of falling than would generally be contemplated in the routine assembly of structural steel beams. Because this work of connecting presents relatively fewer hazards of falling and is at least arguably best performed without restriction (in comparison with other work in the ironworkers trade), the [Occupation Safety and Health] Standards Board has permitted employers the discretion of having connectors perform such work without the protection afforded by tying-off so long as such work does not expose an employee to a fall greater than 30 feet.” (Citing § 1710, subd. (g)(1).)
After the connector is finished, an ironworker known as a “bolter” takes over. In the Board’s words: “ ‘When the connected beams are being permanently fastened to the columns, work known as “bolting”, done by a worker called a “bolter” (who may be the same person who did the connecting), the safety order [of section 1710, subdivision (g)(1)] does not apply . . . because bolting is not work of short duration. A bolter puts in place and tightens four or five bolts. He works with a heavy wrench. Much physical strength is required. Some cutting of metal and welding may need to be done. This work calls for tying-off if the fall distance is greater than 15 feet . . . . [section 1710, subdivision (g)(2).]’ ” (Quoting Valley Steel Construction, OSHSB 78-1419 (Dec. 17, 1984).)
In view of the title of subdivision (g), and because ironworkers other than connectors perform work on the skeleton steel of multistory structures and, by the nature of their work, have safety needs different than those of connectors, the Board’s interpretation that subdivisions (g)(1), (g)(2) and (g)(3) apply only to ironworkers is not clearly erroneous.
Moreover, the Board’s construction is supported by section 7265 of the Labor Code and by the history of section 1710, subdivision (g). Labor Code section 7265 applies to structural steel framed buildings. (Lab. Code, div. 5, pt. 1, art. 4, § 7250 et seq.) It provides: “Safety belts and nets shall be *653required in accordance with Article 24 (commencing with Section 1669) of subchapter 4 of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Title 8 of the California Administrative Code [now California Code of Regulations], Construction Safety Orders of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health.” The general safety belt and lanyard requirement of section 1670, subdivision (a), is contained within the aforesaid article of the California Code of Regulations. The tie-off requirements of section 1710, subdivision (g), are in a separate article. Thus, it appears the Legislature intended employees working on structural steel framed buildings to be governed by the tie-off requirement of section 1670, subdivision (a).
Section 1710, subdivision (g), apparently was promulgated in response to safety concerns expressed by the ironworkers who assemble the steel beams and columns of skeleton steel structures. In its “Final Statement of Reasons” for the tie-off requirements of subdivision (g), the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHSB) responded to written comments from those affected by the requirements. In one response, OSHSB characterized the provisions of subdivision (g) as “safety belt protection . . . required to be worn by structural ironworkers in the process of erecting structural steel in building construction.” (Italics added.) In another response, OSHSB stated that the revisions to subdivision (g) “were developed with the input ffrom [sic] bothe [sic] management and labor organizations directly affected by the regulation, i.e., the structural steel erection industry. The purpose for this development was a concerted effort by this industry to provide clear and workable regulations directed toward that phase of the steel erection procedure where beams and columns are temporarily positioned and connected by a special group of ironworkers known in the trade as ‘connectors.’ These workers land and position the steel as it is hoisted by crane or derrick using bolts as a connection means. After one steel member has connected (bolted), the process is repeated over-and-over until the structure has been completely erected. Following closely behind the ‘connectors’ is a group of ironworkers who make the final beam and column connections (after the steel has been properly plumbed) by the use of either bolts, rivets of [sic] welding means. Other safety orders (Sections 1670, 1649 and 1671 [of the California Code of Regulations]) apply to this latter group with respect to fall protection. The regulation as proposed, therefore, will eliminate confusion as to how, and under what circumstances, fall protection is to be afforded to ‘connectors’ as well as other ironworkers on the job. [][] ‘Connectors’ have long been adamant in their insistence that they should not be required to wear safety belts and lifelines (lanyards) when performing their work at elevations above 15 feet. This conviction is based on the fact that they must move rapidly from one work location to another. In doing so, there is the substantial *654possibility that their lifeline will catch upon the protrusion, such as clip angle or bolt, and cause them to lose their balance and fall. The safety device (i.e., safety belt and lifeline) therefore becomes a safety hazard. To reinforce their position, they point to Section 1669(c) which states that for work of short duration (i.e., connecting) the provisions of Article 24 may be temporarily suspended. [][]... Ironworkers, other than ‘connectors’, would, therefore, be bound by, and not in conflict with, the provisions of Article 24 as well as proposed new Section 1710(g)(2).”
Considering this regulatory history which focuses on special safety needs of ironworkers inconsistent with the tie-off requirements of section 1670, subdivision (a), and in view of the other factors noted above, it is not clearly erroneous to conclude that subdivision (g) is intended to apply only to ironworkers and that all other workers on multistory skeleton steel buildings and structures are governed by the general safety belt and lanyard requirements of section 1670, subdivision (a), in accordance with Labor Code section 7265.
In fact, since the tie-off requirement of section 1670, subdivision (a), is now more restrictive than that of section 1710, subdivision (g)(2), the Board’s determination that subdivision (g) applies only to ironworkers is consistent with the rule of law that safety regulations are to be interpreted liberally for the purpose of achieving a safe working environment. (Carmona v. Division of Industrial Safety (1975) 13 Cal.3d 303, 313 [118 Cal.Rptr. 473, 530 P.2d 161].)
The bottom line is this. We judges are not schooled in skeleton steel construction. I candidly admit I could not begin to describe the difference between a bar joist (§ 1710, subd. (c)(3)) and an open web steel joist. (§ 1710, subd. (c)(5).) It is the Board which has expertise dealing with the safety needs of this specialized industry. Thus, the Board is in the best position to interpret the intent and scope of safety regulations governing skeleton steel construction. Judges must give great deference to the Board’s expertise. This does not mean that we should abdicate our role of independently construing the meaning of safety regulations. But we should not force upon the Board, and the industry it oversees, an unwanted construction of section 1710, subdivision (g), when the Board’s interpretation otherwise is not clearly, erroneous. (Pacific Legal Foundation v. Unemployment Ins. Appeals Bd., supra, 29 Cal.3d at p. 111; Judson Steel Corp. v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd., supra, 22 Cal.3d at p. 668.) Such is the case here, particularly since the majority’s interpretation results in a less safe working environment for those, other than ironworkers, who work on multistory skeleton steel structures.
*655For the reasons stated above, I conclude the Board properly held that section 1710, subdivisions (g)(1), (g)(2) and (g)(3), apply only to ironworkers working on the skeleton steel of multistory structures, thus decedent’s failure to use a safety belt and lanyard while working as a carpenter setting a wooden truss violated the general tie-off requirement of section 1670, subdivision (a).2 Accordingly, I would affirm the superior court’s denial of Lusardi’s petition for writ of mandate, albeit for reasons different than those stated by the superior court. (West Pico Furniture Co. v. Superior Court (1961) 56 Cal.2d 407, 413-414 [15 Cal.Rptr. 119, 364 P.2d 295]; People v. Ainsworth (1990) 217 Cal.App.3d 247, 250, fn. 4 [266 Cal.Rptr. 175] [since an appellate court is concerned with the correctness of the trial court’s ruling, and not its reasons, the ruling may be affirmed even if the basis for the trial court’s order is incorrect].)
Nevertheless, since the majority upholds the trial court’s decision on other grounds, I concur in the judgment.

 Further references to sections 1670 and 1710 are to the California Code of Regulations. References to subdivisions (g), (g)(1), (g)(2) and (g)(3) are to section 1710.

 This should not be construed to express a belief that all the other subdivisions of section 1710 are limited to ironworkers. That is a question I need not, and do not, decide.