Court Opinion

ID: 9462543
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 22:43:15.952948+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:37:38.166696
License: Public Domain

*459SETH, Circuit Judge
(dissenting):
There is no indication that the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was intended to override the established employer-employee relationships and contractor-subcontractor relationships which have developed over the years to allocate duties and liability among the many parties present on any construction site. Also it serves no useful purpose to change these relationships, and to create a whole new body of law or set of rules which pertain only to OSHA.
The subcontractor here had control over the truck and driver concerned, and over safety equipment for such trucks. The prime contractor did not have such control. The accident furthermore was off the work-site and apparently along a public highway.
The fact that the enforcement agency selects a particular contractor on the job does not serve to fix the liability. Established legal relationships should be recognized in order that the stated purposes of the Act can be accomplished. This is the basic and important factor to be considered, and this factor can be best recognized again if the duties of several employers are imposed in accordance with the law and rules which govern all other aspects of work at the site. There is no point in setting up yet another structure of relationships totally unrelated to others as this serves only to retard the effective implementation of the Act.
Thus I must respectfully dissent from the majority opinion. The position expressed by the Chairman of the Commission in this case is to me the proper one to accomplish the purposes of the Act. See also Southeast Contractors, Inc. v. Dunlop, 512 F.2d 675 (5th Cir.).