Cal. Dep't of Indus. Relations, Div. of Occupational Safety & Health v. Cal. Occupational Safety & Health Appeals Bd.

236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 706, 26 Cal. App. 5th 93
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedAugust 13, 2018
DocketA142799
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 706 (Cal. Dep't of Indus. Relations, Div. of Occupational Safety & Health v. Cal. Occupational Safety & Health Appeals Bd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cal. Dep't of Indus. Relations, Div. of Occupational Safety & Health v. Cal. Occupational Safety & Health Appeals Bd., 236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 706, 26 Cal. App. 5th 93 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

REARDON, J.

*96In this appeal, we consider a narrow question of regulatory interpretation: Can the interior of a non-air-conditioned bus be deemed an "outdoor place of employment" for purposes of the heat illness prevention standards promulgated by the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Standards Board) as stated in section 3395 of title 8 of the California Code of Regulations ( section 3395 )? After the Department *97of Industrial Relation's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Division) cited the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) for several violations of section 3395 involving its non-air-conditioned buses, AC Transit sought administrative review, arguing, among other things, that the buses were not "outdoor" places of employment for purposes of the heat illness prevention regulation. The Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board (Appeals Board) ultimately agreed, affirming the dismissal of the appealed-from violations by one of its administrative law judges (ALJ). However, after the Division filed a petition for writ of mandate in the trial court disputing this decision, the trial court determined that the Appeals Board's definition of "outdoor" was too narrow and issued a peremptory writ of mandate instructing the Appeals Board to reconsider the matter using a broader definition of outdoor that could include non-air-conditioned vehicles. Both AC Transit and the Appeals Board appealed. We conclude-based upon our independent analysis of the question-that the trial court's construction of section 3395 is well supported both by the language of the regulation and by its related regulatory history. We therefore remand the matter for further proceedings consistent with our analysis.

I. BACKGROUND

The three state agencies relevant to these proceedings are all branches of California's Department of Industrial Relations that are involved in the regulation of workplace health and safety. The Standards Board promulgates regulations *709setting occupational health and safety standards. ( Lab. Code, § 140 et seq. ) The Division enforces those standards, inspecting workplaces and issuing citations for health and safety violations. (Id. , § 142; see also id. , § 6300 et seq.) Finally, it is the responsibility of the Appeals Board to adjudicate appeals of Division citations. (Id. , § 148 et seq.) As the trial court pointed out below, this case presents "the interesting situation" where the Division and the Appeals Board advocate different interpretations of regulations issued by the Standards Board.1

Section 3395-the regulation here at issue-sets forth requirements for heat illness prevention in outdoor places of employment and was initially adopted by the Standards Board in 2005 as an emergency regulation after an unusual number of reports of serious occupational heat-related illnesses and deaths that year. Thereafter, the Standards Board initiated a rulemaking action to promulgate a permanent version of section 3395, issuing an Initial Statement of Reasons (See Standards Board, Initial Statement of Reasons, New Section 3395 : Heat Illness Prevention (ISOR).) In 2006, the Standards Board issued its Final Statement of Reasons, responding to oral and written *98comments. (See Standards Board Final Statement of Reasons, New Section 3395 : Heat Illness Prevention (FSOR).) It then adopted the permanent version of section 3395 applicable broadly to "all outdoor places of employment." (former Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 3395, subd. (a), Register 2006, No. 30 (July 27, 2006).)2 Generally speaking, section 3395 sets standards for the provision of water, shade, and training for employees working in outdoor environments. (Ibid. )

AC Transit operates transit buses throughout Alameda County and adjoining areas. Bus routes range from 15 minutes to over an hour, with a small recovery time scheduled at the end of each route, which may or may not be available to the driver depending on whether he or she is running on schedule. Drivers can be behind the wheel driving for up to ten hours a shift. During relevant timeframes, AC Transit employed between 1200 and 1900 drivers and operated 695 buses, only 20 percent of which were air-conditioned. In November 2007, the Division cited AC Transit for three alleged violations of section 3395 with respect to the operation of its non-air-conditioned buses: (1) failure to supply adequate drinking water to drivers; (2) failure to make shade continuously available for drivers; and (3) failure to develop heat illness procedures and related training for employees and supervisors. (See § 3395, subds. (c), (d), & (e).)

AC Transit appealed, and an administrative hearing before an ALJ was subsequently held over the course of several days. During the hearing, several bus drivers testified that it was normally hotter inside the buses than outside during the daytime, even when the exterior temperature was in the 70s. They further reported that some of the non-air-conditioned buses *710had issues with ventilation and engine compartments that radiated heat into the bus interior. One driver, who was also a union representative, testified that he had heard concerns from AC Transit drivers "[t]hat the conditions on very hot days were unhealthy and unsafe." A Division employee explained that the variable weather pattern in AC Transit's service area created a risk of heat illness due to lack of time for drivers' bodies to acclimatize during short-term heat waves. Further, in one heat wave-with outside temperatures between 93 and 97 degrees-this employee had measured temperatures between 97 and 102 degrees immediately behind the driver seats on four AC Transit buses. Another Division employee noted that sitting next to large windows subjects *99bus drivers to direct solar radiation, adding to their bodies' heat burden. Finally, an occupational medicine physician and consultant to the Division testified that the effects of even mild heat illness could impair a bus driver's ability to multi-task, leading to safety risks. AC Transit put on no evidence, conceding that it had not complied with section 3395. It argued, instead, that it was not subject to the regulation and that section 3395 was unenforceably vague.

After considering the evidence presented, the ALJ concluded that "the term 'outdoor places of employment' [in section 3395 was] a relatively new term, without a proven 'common usage' and no 'common law meaning.' " Moreover, after a review of various dictionary definitions of "outdoor," the ALJ further found that "there is more than one common meaning" for that term. The ALJ thus reviewed the regulatory history of section 3395 in an attempt to ascertain its underlying purpose and decided that the "weight of the evidence" argued against defining "outdoor places of employment" to include "the interiors of municipal transit buses." He therefore dismissed the citations and vacated the corresponding penalties and abatement requirements.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 706, 26 Cal. App. 5th 93, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cal-dept-of-indus-relations-div-of-occupational-safety-health-v-calctapp5d-2018.