The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s ruling affirming the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s authority to regulate workplace safety.
Congress gave OSHA authority for safety standards in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, “and we agree with the district court that the Act comfortably falls within the ambit of delegations previously upheld by the Supreme Court,” according to Judge Richard Allen Griffin, writing for the majority in the 2-1 decision. Senior Judge Deborah L. Cook agreed, and Judge John B. Nalbandian dissented.
“Individuals subject to these standards must comply with them. Employers must provide a workplace free from recognized hazards, and they must comply with the agency’s occupational safety and health standards,” Griffin wrote.
Nalbandian, in dissent, wrote: “Never have we or the Supreme Court decided whether the permanent standards provision under OSHA constitutes an unconstitutional delegation of power. OSHA vests the Secretary of Labor with the power to ‘set mandatory occupational safety and health standards applicable to businesses affecting interstate commerce.’”
The case stems from a 2019 citation where an industrial general contractor was fined $11,934 for an employee’s fall from a catwalk; the fine was reduced to $5,967 in an informal settlement.
Afterward, the company took its case to the Northern District of Ohio, claiming that OSHA’s statutory power to promulgate permanent safety standards is unconstitutional. The company requested an injunction to prevent the agency from enforcing those standards, Safety + Health reported.
The company lost its case in a September 2022 decision in the 6th Circuit District Court, and then launched its appeal in April.
