Details

Parent Category: Safety Info Posts

Category: OSHA Compliance Posts

Published: 20 June 2017

An electrical contractor was under contract to update the energy monitoring and control system of a Hospital. An employee of the contractor who was “troubleshooting” (quotations added by me) the system was burned when an arc flash occurred as he worked near energized electrical parts. The contractor reported the employee injury to OSHA which initiated an inspection of the jobsite on October 6, 2015. As a result of the inspection, on February 17, 2016, the Secretary issued a Citation and Notification of Penalty alleging violations of § 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act of 1970, and the standards found at 29 C.F.R. §§ 1910.335(a)(1)(i) and 1910.335(a)(2)(i). Penalties totaling $14,700.00 were proposed for the alleged violations.

The contractor timely contested the Citation. A hearing was held on December 15, 2016, addressing only Items 2 and 3 of the Citation and penalties of $4,900.00 for each item. Both parties filed post-hearing briefs on February 6, 2017.

For the reasons that follow, the Court vacates Items 2 and 3 of the Citation. No penalty is assessed.

Membership Content