Occupational Safety and Health NewsAlert

EIGHTH CIRCUIT SIDES WITH OSHA REGARDING MULTI-EMPLOYER CITATION POLICY

For clients and friends of Jackson Kelly PLLC

Volume 5, Number 7

©2009 Jackson Kelly PLLC

 

On February 26, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld OSHA’s multi-employer worksite policy for controlling employers.  Solis v. Summit Contractors, Inc., No. 07-2191 (8th Cir. Feb. 26, 2009).  The decision vacates an Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (“Review Commission”) ruling which held that under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.12(a) OSHA could not cite a general contractor that neither created nor exposed its employees to a hazard.

D.C. CIRCUIT SAYS NO TO MSHA SKIMPING ON MINE RESCUE TEAM RULES

For clients and friends of Jackson Kelly PLLC

Volume 5, Number 2

©2009 Jackson Kelly PLLC

            In 2006, Congress passed the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (the “MINER Act”). Section Four of the Act requires the Secretary to issue regulations concerning mine rescue teams. After MSHA issued the regulations, the United Mine Workers of America (“UMWA”) challenged several provisions of the final rule. On February 10, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the final rule promulgated by MSHA was inconsistent with the MINER Act in some aspects but upheld other provisions of the rule challenged by the UMWA in Int’l Union, United Mine Workers of Am. v. Dep’t of Labor and MSHA, No. 08-1147 (D.C. Cir. February 10, 2009).

APPELLATE COURTS CLARIFY MINE OPERATOR LIABILITY FOR VIOLATIONS COMMITTED BY CONTRACTORS

For clients and friends of Jackson Kelly PLLC

Volume 16, Number 2, Winter 2008
©2008 Jackson Kelly PLLC

 

            Mine operators frequently ask if they may be cited for conditions created by contractors working at their mine site.  The short answer to that question is “yes.”  The Mine Act is a strict liability statute, which means that an operator may be cited regardless of whether it caused the conditions that led to the citation.  In other words, under strict liability, the Mine Act imposes liability without regard to fault.  Moreover, according to two recent U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decisions, mine operators are unable to raise the argument in a challenge that the citation is invalid because the contractor caused the violative condition.