Cleveland partner Patricia Poole authored an article, "Upholding OSHA's Multi-Employer Citation Policy," which was published as the exclusive guest column in the July 24, 2009, edition of Employment Law360.
According to Poole, "Essentially, since the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's [OSHA] inception, it has had in place a 'multi-employer' citation or worksite policy. This policy is published in its Field Inspection Reference Manual, or more recently, the Field Operations Manual. OSHA's position is that on multi-employer worksites, regardless of the industry sector, more than one employer may be cited for any hazardous condition that violates an OSHA standard. The rule has not been well-received by general contractors or other employers with responsibility for overall safety at a site."
The article goes on to explain the two-step procedure OSHA directs its compliance officers to follow when determining whether to cite a particular employer, including clarification of the categories into which an employer may fall—"creating," "exposing," "correcting," or "controlling" employer—and the varying levels of responsibility for employer compliance, based on those categories.
Poole goes on to detail a recent case before the Eighth Circuit Court of appeals, which upheld OSHA’s multi-employer policy in its decision. To read the full article, courtesy of Law360, please click here.