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Title: Enhanced Osha Liability For Controlling Employers
Author: Mark A. Lies II, Elizabeth Leifel Ash
Source: American Gas Association 2009
Year Published: 2009
Abstract: From large-scale construction sites to office buildings and factories, many employers rely on one or more subcontractors to perform any number of specialized functions. In such an arrangement, the employer subcontracting work to another entity often assumes (and the contractual arrangement often directs) that the subcontractor is to retain exclusive responsibility for the safety and health of its own employees while performing the subcontracted work. In a recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the court unequivocally held that an employer can no longer avoid OSHA liability simply by subcontracting work to another entity. Solis v. Summit Contractors, Inc., F.3d , 2009 WL 465978 (8th Cir. Feb. 26, 2009). With this case validating its ability to cite employers regardless of whether a violation affects the employers own employees, OSHA will undoubtedly increase its focus on work sites, particularly construction sites, where it can cite multiple employers for a single safety or health violation. This decision also increases the potential for criminal liability for multiple employers where an employee is killed at the work site.

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