Court Opinion

ID: 9466887
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:31:46.003974+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:01.836760
License: Public Domain

EDWARDS, Chief Judge,
dissenting.
This is a case which presents an important problem in the construction industry. Petitioner Ray Evers Welding was engaged in erecting a one-story warehouse of light steel framing with a sheet metal skin covering. The overhead framing consists of high beam girders. Connected to them at right angles are metal stampings called “purlins.” The purlins must be bolted to the girders for the structure to stand by itself and in this process, ironworkers must go on top of the girders which will support the roof to accomplish the bolting.
An OSHA inspection documented by 15 exhibits of pictures of the operation showed that Evers’ employees were walking on top of the roof girders and bolting purlins without any protective devices such as safety belts tied by a lanyard to the girders or protective nets below. On this basis, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission cited Evers for a “serious” violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 29 U.S.C. § 651 et seq. (1976), § 654(a)(2) of which provides:
*734§ 654. Duties of employers and employees
(a) Each employer—
(2) shall comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this chapter.
The applicable rule is cited as 29 C.F.R. § 1926.28(a) and it provides:
Personal protective equipment
(a) The employer is responsible for requiring the wearing of appropriate personal protective equipment in all operations where there is an exposure to hazardous conditions or where this part indicates the need for using such equipment to reduce the hazards to employees.
The citation in this case reads:
Failure to require the wearing of appropriate personal protective equipment in all operations where there is an exposure to hazardous conditions or where this part indicates the need for using such equipment to reduce the hazards to employees, e. g. Employees observed on the beams of the building not protected by personal protective equipment such as a safety belt and lanyard from a fall of 18-21 feet on the east side of the building.
A hearing on this citation was held before an Administrative Law Judge after a complaint was issued by the Secretary of Labor and a decision finding a serious violation, and penalizing Evers by a $200 fine, was entered. Upon review, the Commission affirmed the Administrative Law Judge.
Evers petitioned for review in this court under 29 U.S.C. § 660(a). The issue that is presented for decision here is as follows: “Is there substantial evidence to support the Commission’s finding that Evers seriously violated the OSHA standard in its failure to require the use of safety belts or harnesses of its employees when exposed to the danger of falling?” Contrary to the opinion for the court, I would answer this question “yes.”
In its petition for review, Evers claims that the regulation quoted above, 29 C.F.R. § 1926.28(a), is unenforceably vague. Ev-ers’ testimony before the ALJ had been that the wearing of safety belts for this sort of job was not a usual practice and that the job did not present a recognized hazard in the trade, asserting that no man had been known to fall from such a building. Evers also claims that recognized industry standards concerning safety belts should be the standards by which its operations are to be judged.
The general duty clause of the Act, however, says, “Each employer . . . shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards . . . .” 29 U.S.C. § 654(a)(1) (1976).
The cases in this regard are definitely divided as to how the statute and regulations should be interpreted. The First Circuit in General Dynamics Corp. v. OSHA Review Comm’n., 599 F.2d 435 (1st Cir. 1979), supported the view taken by the Commission in this case. A similar opinion is Secretary v. S & H Riggers and Erectors, Inc., OSHRC # 15855, 3 CCH ESHG ¶ 23,-480 (Rev.Comm.1979). In a very recent opinion written by Judge Johnson for the Fifth Circuit, that court has dealt with exactly the same issue: employees of an outdoor advertising sign company working on catwalks as well as ladders more than 20 feet above ground. In affirming the Administrative Law Judge, the court stated:
. The administrative law judge found Turner to be in serious violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.28(a) for failure to require its employees to wear and use their safety belts while working at high elevations. The record in this case substantially supports that finding. The compliance officer testified that he observed men working on the sign without tying off their safety belt lanyards. This action was known by the lead crewman, who had responsibility for assuring compliance with the company’s policy that employees *735should tie off when working at heights above four feet.
Turner Communications Corp. v. OSHA Review Comm’n., 612 F.2d 941, at 944 (5th Cir. 1980).
Contrary views have been expressed in Bristol Steel & Iron Works, Inc. v. OSHA Review Comm’n., 601 F.2d 717 (4th Cir. 1979), and Hoffman Construction Co. v. OSHA Review Comm’n., 546 F.2d 281 (9th Cir. 1976).
I agree with the opinion of the court in upholding the applicable regulation, 29 C.F.R. § 1926.28(a), as to petitioner’s vagueness and notice challenges. I disagree strongly with it in its conclusion that the ALJ and the Commission’s findings of violation were not supported by “substantial evidence.”
The undisputed evidence was that the center beam of this building was 23 feet 11 inches above ground level. The undisputed evidence also was that Evers workers on this job repeatedly walked this center beam to the position where they were required to do the bolting. It also was that they never wore belts with safety lanyards attached either when walking or bolting and that no safety nets were employed.
The pictures below are, in themselves, “substantial evidence” to support the Commission’s finding and $200 fine.

*736

If the risk involved in falling from high steel construction jobs is not a “recognized hazard,” the English language has been twisted beyond recognition. On this issue, the Commission found:
This requires three facts to be found in conjunction, the hazard, the exposure, and the equipment of an appropriate nature to reduce the hazard to the worker. Examining the evidence in this case . beginning with the hazard, it is apparent that common sense and official notice are enough to recognize the hazard of falling from elevated worksites. Reinforcing the finding that there was a hazard in the undertaking as viewed at respondent’s worksite are these facts. The men pictured in C Exhibits 4, 6 and 7 are near the top of the structure and the man in C Exhibit 9 is standing on the peak.
There may, of course, be a serious argument that for high steel workers to wear belts and lanyards or never go on high steel without life nets rigged below would be extremely costly. If so, the cost argument must be addressed to the Commission or to Congress and not to this court.
The opinion for the court does not (at least in so many words) accept petitioner’s argument that the Commission’s findings should be reversed because the hazards it found were not hazards “recognized by the industry.”
In this respect, I would follow the position taken by the First Circuit in General Dynamics Corp. v. OSHA Review Comm’n., 599 F.2d 453, 464 (1st Cir. 1979):
Furthermore, we cannot agree with Quincy’s position that the measure of the adequacy of its safety program should be that of the industry. Such a standard would allow an entire industry to avoid *737liability by maintaining inadequate safety training. The purpose of the Act is to require all employers to take all feasible steps to avoid industrial accidents. While the definition of a “recognized hazard” should be made in reference to industry knowledge, by virtue of the definition of the word “recognized”, we cannot accept a standard for the precautions which should be taken against such a hazard which is any less than the maximum feasible. Brennan v. Butler Lime and Cement Co., supra [560 F.2d 1011]; National Realty and Construction, supra [Nat'l Realty and Construction Co. v. OSHRC, 489 F.2d 1257]. (Footnote omitted.)
599 F.2d at 464.
The petition for review should be dismissed.