Midwest Steel Erection Co., Inc. v. Commissioner of Labor

• Court: Indiana Appellate Court
• Writing for the Court: STATON
• Citation: Midwest Steel Erection Co., Inc. v. Commissioner of Labor, 482 N.E.2d 1369 (Ind. App. 1985)
• Decision Date: 30 September 1985
• Docket Number: No. 3-185A10,3-185A10
• Parties: 1984-1985 O.S.H.D. (CCH) P 27,398 MIDWEST STEEL ERECTION COMPANY, INC. Appellant (Petitioner Below), v. COMMISSIONER OF LABOR of the State of Indiana, and the Indiana Board of Safety Review, Appellees (Respondents Below).

Page 1369

482 N.E.2d 1369

1984-1985 O.S.H.D. (CCH) P 27,398

MIDWEST STEEL ERECTION COMPANY, INC. Appellant (Petitioner Below), v. COMMISSIONER OF LABOR of the State of Indiana, and the Indiana Board of Safety Review, Appellees (Respondents Below).

No. 3-185A10.

Court of Appeals of Indiana Third District.

Sept. 30, 1985.

Joseph Stalmack, James W. Roehrdanz, Galvin, Stalmack & Kirschner, Hammond, for appellant.

Charles L. Berger, Evansville, for appellees.

STATON, Presiding Judge.

Midwest Steel Erection Company, Inc. (Midwest) was cited by the Indiana Division of Labor for violation of standards adopted pursuant to the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Act, IC 22-8-1.1-1 et seq. The Board of Safety Review upheld the citation, rejecting a hearing officer's recommendation that it be vacated on the grounds that the regulation in question was ambiguous and unenforceable. The trial court affirmed the decision of the Board of Safety Review and Midwest appeals. Because we reverse we need address only Midwest's contention that it was denied its right to due process because the regulation is vague and ambiguous. ¹

Midwest was a subcontractor on the Cline Avenue bridge extension project in East Chicago, Indiana. Its employees were working on an elevated section of the roadway known as Ramp "C" which ranged in height from forty-six (46) feet to eighty-two (82) feet above the ground and was over nine hundred (900) feet long. The parties stipulated that one (1) stairway or ladder was provided for employee access to Ramp "C". On April 15, 1982 a portion of Ramp "C" collapsed leaving a Midwest employee stranded on the uncollapsed portion with no means of access to the ground. As the employee was climbing down the remaining structure it, too, collapsed, killing the employee. The Office of the Commissioner of Labor inspected the worksite from April 16, 1982 through October 7, 1982 and on October 8, 1982 issued a citation charging Midwest with a serious violation ² of 29 CFR 1926.501(a), adopted pursuant to IC 22-8-1.1-13.1 (Burns Code Ed.1974), which provides:

"On all structures, two or more floors, (20 feet or over) in height, stairways, ladders, or ramps shall be provided for employees during the construction period."

The Board of Safety Review concluded and the trial court affirmed, that the above regulation "requires that more than one (1) stairway, ladder or ramp is required where the structure is more than twenty (20) feet or two (2) stories above the ground."

Courts are limited in reviewing the action of administrative agencies. Judicial review of an administrative determination is limited to a determination of: whether the agency possessed jurisdiction over the matter; whether the order was made in accordance with proper legal procedure; whether it was based upon substantial evidence; and, whether it violated any constitutional, statutory or legal principles. Allen v. Scherer (1983), Ind.App., 452 N.E.2d 1031, 1034. In determining whether an administrative decision is supported by substantial evidence, the trial court must examine the whole record to determine whether the board's decision lacks a reasonably sound basis of evidentiary support. Metropolitan Sch. Dist. of Martinsville v. Mason (1983), Ind.App., 451 N.E.2d 349, 353. The Court of Appeals, in reviewing the decision of an administrative body may not substitute its own opinions and conclusions for those of the board but must give deference to the expertise of the board. Aaron v. Review Board of Indiana, etc. (1981), Ind.App., 416 N.E.2d 125 133. Generally, administrative decisions must be based upon ascertainable standards to ensure that agency action will be orderly and consistent. The standards should be stated with sufficient precision to provide those having contact with the agency fair warning of the criteria by which they will be judged. Mugg v. Stanton (1983), Ind.App., 454 N.E.2d 867, 869.

Midwest argues that the standard it is charged with violating does not provide "fair warning" of what is required or prohibited and is therefore unenforceably vague. See United States v. L. Cohen Grocery Co., 255 U.S. 81, 41 S.Ct. 298, 65 L.Ed. 516. The Commissioner urges that the regulation requires multiple ladders and stairways or ramps on a structure over twenty (20) feet high and Midwest, having provided only one stairway, clearly violated that mandate. Midwest, on the other hand, contends that the words "ladders", "stairways" and "ramps" are plural simply because the word "structures" is plural, and that a requirement of multiple ladders, etc. would have read "On any structure ... ladders, stairways or ramps shall be provided...."

The test to be applied in determining whether a standard can withstand a challenge for vagueness is whether the standard is so indefinite that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application. Allis-Chalmers Corp. v. OSAHRC, 542 F.2d 27, 30 (7th Cir.1976). The federal courts have applied this test in a number of cases relating to occupational safety regulations. In Dravo Corporation v. OSAHRC, 613 F.2d 1227 (3rd Cir.1980) an employer was held not to be subject to sanctions for non-compliance with safety standards "without adequate notice in the regulations of the exact contours of his responsibility." Id. at 1234. The court followed the Fifth Circuit's opinion in Diamond Roofing Co. v. OSAHRC, 528 F.2d 645 (1976) in applying the rule that the applicability of penal sanctions in regulations is to be narrowly construed and stated that OSHA regulations must be "written in clear and concise language so that employers will be better able to understand and apply them, 613 F.2d at 1232," quoting from Diamond Roofing Co., supra at 650.

In Kropp Forge Co. v. Secretary of Labor, 657 F.2d 119 (7th Cir.1981) the employer was charged with violating a regulation which required a "continuing effective hearing conservation program" where sound levels in the workplace exceeded certain levels. The citation charged that the employer's program lacked six elements necessary to constitute an effective program. The court concluded that the standard was unconstitutionally vague because it did not give any warning to employers that their conservation program must contain these six elements. Id. at 124. Where penal sanctions are involved the regulation must...