Bowen Industries Incorporated (ALJ decision, April 26, 1999)

Plain-English summary

Bowen Industries and the Secretary submitted a settlement motion concerning a scaffolding citation at the Ivanhoe Concentrator after the case had been stayed while the Secretary considered possible action against an individual. Judge Paul Merlin lifted the stay but disapproved the settlement because the motion was filed by an unauthorized nonattorney and did not explain the proposed change to the cited standard, negligence, gravity, and penalty. He ordered the parties to submit supporting information within 30 days or proceed to a hearing.

Decision snapshot

• Cited standard: 30 C.F.R. § 56.11027
• Outcome: The stay was lifted, the settlement was disapproved, and supplemental information was ordered within 30 days.
• Key point: A settlement proposal must reconcile its requested modifications with the citation's stated facts and provide enough evidence for the judge to evaluate the penalty and public-interest considerations.

Full text (FMSHRC public release)

FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION 1730 K STREET, N.W., 6TH FLOOR
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20006-3868
April 26, 1999

SECRETARY OF LABOR : CIVIL PENALTY PROCEEDING
MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH
:
ADMINISTRATION (MSHA), : Docket No. CENT 98-268-M
Petitioner : A. C. No. 29-01882-05502 LUO
:
v. :
BOWEN INDUSTRIES
:
INCORPORATED, : Ivanhoe Concentrator
Respondent
:

ORDER LIFTING STAY
DECISION DISAPPROVING SETTLEMENT
ORDER TO SUBMIT INFORMATION

Before: Judge Merlin

On December 8, 1998, this case was stayed pending a final determination by the Secretary whether to pursue actions under Section 110(c). The parties have now filed a joint motion to approve settlement. Therefore, the stay previously entered is hereby LIFTED.

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Employees admitted that Ms. Medina had warned them of not following company safety policies and needed to erect a proper platform.

The inspector subsequently modified the citation to add the following information to the condition or practice:

Supervisor and employees knew of inadequate scaffold, the company safety inspector on 04-09-1998 stopped the operation on welding informing employee that they needed an adequate work platform to work off or to extend scaffolding. Employee elected not to fix work platform. This violation is an unwarrantable failure.

The standard sets forth requirements for the construction of scaffolds and working platforms, mandating that they be of substantial construction with handrails and properly laid floor boards and where necessary, with toeboards. Also they must not be overloaded. The citation, however, does not find that the scaffold was improperly constructed, lacked any of the items described, or was overloaded. Rather, it found the scaffold was inadequate because the employee was standing on top of the scaffold s railing trying to reach an I-beam. The condition described by the inspector therefore, had nothing to do with the scaffold itself but with its location. The problem was one of safe access to the I-beam and not any deficiencies in the characteristics of the scaffold. Accordingly, it does not appear that the standard cited applies to the situation set forth in the citation. The parties must address this issue in the supplemental motion.
Even assuming the cited standard applies, the settlement motion is deficient. The motion

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merely states that further investigation reveals the degree of negligence and likelihood of injury should be modified. It alleges that upon further investigation the Secretary has determined there is insufficient evidence to support the conclusion that the operator knew of the violation. This allegation is contrary to the citation and its modification which expressly state that just a few days previously the company inspector found employees using scaffolding that did not reach and told them the scaffolding should be extended. If true, this prior misconduct by employees called for heightened supervision by the operator. In any event, the representations in the motion must be reconciled with the statements in the citation and if the citation is in error, the motion must say so.

The motion also represents that gravity should be less than originally found because the employee was wearing a safety harness. But the citation recognizes that although a harness was worn, it was tied off at the wrong place. The motion must identify those factors which justify a finding of reduced gravity.

Finally, the motion seeks a penalty reduction of 85% and a modification of the citation to one issued under section 104(a) citation, but the generalized and unsupported statements in the motion do not justify such actions. The motion states that the operator s size, history and good faith have been reviewed and are set forth in Exhibit A to the penalty petition. A printout attached to the assessment sheet indicates that the operator had two violations in July and one violation in September, but the number of inspection days is not given so I do not know whether this is a good, average or bad history. Also, there is no information about size and ability to continue in business. The Commission has held that the judge must consider all six criteria when assessing a penalty. Sec. of Labor on behalf of James Hyles, et al. v. All American Asphalt, 21 FMSHRC 34, 56-57 (Jan. 1999); Sec. Labor on behalf of Kenneth Hannah, et al. v. Consoli- dation Coal Co., 20 FMSHRC 1293, 1302-1303 (Dec. 1998); Sec. Labor on behalf of Richard Glover v. Consolidation Coal Co., 19 FMSHRC 1529, 1539 (Sept 1997).

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Paul Merlin
Chief Administrative Law Judge

Distribution: (Certified Mail)

Tom Mascolino, Esq., Office of the Solicitor, U. S. Department of Labor, Room 420, 4015 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22203

Raquel Tamez, Office of the Solicitor, U. S. Department of Labor, 525 Griffin Street, Suite 501, Dallas, TX 75202 Mr. Alfredo Ontiveros, Safety Director, Bowen Industries Incorporated, 9801 Carnegie Avenue, El Paso, TX 79925 3

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