Bowlin Group, LLC v. Secretary of Labor

437 S.W.3d 738, 2014 WL 3377090, 2014 Ky. App. LEXIS 122
Court of Appeals of Kentucky·Decided July 11, 2014·No. No. 2013-CA-000432-MR·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

OPINION

ACREE, Chief Judge:

Bowlin Group, LLC, appeals from the February 7, 2013 Opinion and Order of the Franklin Circuit Court which affirmed the Decision and Order of the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission which upheld the Secretary of Labor’s citation of Bowlin for a safety violation. We affirm.

I. Facts and Procedure

The safety violation came to the attention of the Secretary as a result of an accident and injury suffered by a Bowlin employee on April 12, 2009. Bowlin, which constructs and repairs transmission and distribution lines for power companies,1 had employed a crew of workers to recon-ductor2 distribution lines along Kentucky Highway 79 in Meade County, Kentucky.

[741] This reconductoring process required Bowlin workers to string new lines alongside the existing energized lines to avoid a power disruption. The new line was connected to a “tensioner,” a machine incorporating a winch to keep a line taut. At some point the new line became energized, though this fact was unknown to any of the workers. Consequently, electricity was flowing from the energized lines through the new lines to the tensioner mounted on a Bowlin truck.

The risk of a new line becoming electrified under such circumstances is anticipated by regulations designed to protect the safety of workers. We will address the specific regulation in greater detail later. However, it is sufficient to say generally, as a matter of elementary physics, that injury from contact with electricity can be avoided in three ways: (1) isolating oneself from it (ie., staying away from the source of electricity), (2) insulating oneself from it (ie., handling a source of electricity with a protective insulating barrier between the source and the human), or (8) by “grounding” the electricity (ie., diverting the electrical current to the earth by means of a wire or other conductor). None of these means of avoiding human contact with electricity was employed in this case.

While stringing one of the new lines, Bowlin foreman Ronald Douglas observed that the new line had fallen slack. Douglas shouted for a crew member to increase the line’s tension. To do this, an employee had to turn the winch on the tensioner mounted in the truck. Bowlin employee Patrick Haste responded. The truck had not been grounded; that is to say, there was no conductor to divert any leaking current, or fault current, from the truck to the earth. Additionally, Haste was not wearing any insulating personal protective equipment (PPE) that would have maintained a barrier between the electric current and his skin. When Haste touched the tensioner, then carrying the current from the line, he suffered severe electrical burns. Haste’s hip was badly burned, his foot injured, and his right arm was injured so severely that it required amputation.

Bowlin notified the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the accident. Andrew Rapp, a compliance officer, conducted an investigation, after which the Secretary of Labor issued Bow-lin one citation for a serious violation.3

Bowlin challenged the citation. A hearing officer conducted an evidentiary hearing, after which she concluded the citation had been properly issued, and rejected Bowlin’s employee-misconduct defense. The hearing officer recommended that the citation be upheld. Bowlin requested review by the Commission. In its Decision and Order entered on March 6, 2012, the Commission upheld the citation. Bowlin appealed to the Franklin Circuit Court which affirmed the citation. This appeal followed. Additional facts will be discussed as they become relevant to our review.

II. Standard of Review

A court of review may only overturn an agency’s decision “if the agency acted arbitrarily or outside the scope of its authority, if the agency applied an incorrect rule of law, or if the decision itself is not supported by substantial evidence on the record.” Dep’t of Labor v. Morel Const. Co., Inc., 359 S.W.3d 438, 442 (Ky.App.2011). Our function here “is one of review, not of reinterpretation.” Id.

We review questions of fact to determine “whether the agency’s decision was [742] supported by substantial evidence or whether the decision was arbitrary or unreasonable.” Id. (citation omitted). Kentucky continues to adhere to the longstanding definition of substantial evidence “as that which, when taken alone or in light of all the evidence, has sufficient probative value to induce conviction in the mind of a reasonable person.” Bowling v. Natural Res. & Envtl. Prot. Cabinet, 891 S.W.2d 406, 409 (Ky.App.1994) (citation omitted).

In contrast, we review questions of law de novo, affording the agency’s interpretation no deference. Morel Const. Co., 359 S.W.3d at 442.

Before proceeding further, we pause to observe that the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Act (KOSHA) is patterned after its federal counterpart; for that reason, “KOSHA should be interpreted consistently with federal law.” David Gaines Roofing, LLC v. Kentucky Occupational Safety & Health Review Comm’n, 344 S.W.3d 145, 148 (Ky.App. 2011).

III. Analysis

Before this Court, Bowlin claims three errors. First, Bowlin claims the circuit court erred when it refused to vacate the Commission’s decision notwithstanding what Bowlin believes to be the Commission’s improper interpretation of the cited standard. Second, Bowlin claims error in the circuit court’s finding that substantial evidence supports the Commission’s finding that Bowlin violated the cited standard. Finally, Bowlin claims the circuit court erred by rejecting its employee-misconduct affirmative defense.

A. Preference for Grounding

Bowlin first argues that the Commission improperly interpreted the cited standard, 29 C.F.R.4 § 1926.955(c)(3), as indicating a preference for grounding.5 Bowlin contends the Commission’s decision must be vacated in light of this erroneous interpretation. We are not persuaded.

The Secretary of Labor cited Bowlin for failing to comply with 29 C.F.R. § 1926.955(c)(3). That regulation requires employers:

Where there is a possibility of the conductor [in this case, the new line] accidentally contacting an energized circuit or receiving a dangerous induced voltage buildup, to further protect the employee from the hazards of the conductor, the conductor being installed or removed shall be grounded or provisions made to insulate or isolate the employee.

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Bowlin Group, LLC v. Secretary of Labor, 437 S.W.3d 738, 2014 WL 3377090, 2014 Ky. App. LEXIS 122 (Ky. Ct. App. 2014).

437 S.W.3d 738 (Bowlin Group, LLC v. Secretary of Labor) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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