Potelco, Inc. v. Department of Labor & Industries

361 P.3d 767, 191 Wash. App. 9
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided September 22, 2015·No. No. 46256-7-II·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

Sutton, J.

¶1 —The Department of Labor and Industries (Department) cited Potelco Inc. for violating three Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act of 1973 (WISHA)1 safety regulations related to flagging operations at two work sites. The Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals (Board) affirmed the Department’s citations, and Potelco appeals. Potelco argues that the Board lacked substantial evidence to support its findings that flaggers at Potelco’s Bremerton work site violated WAC 296-155-305(9)(b) and flaggers at Potelco’s Bremerton and Bainbridge Island work sites violated WAC 296-155-305(8)(a). Potelco also argues that the Board erred in applying WAC 296-155-305(8)(c) because the regulation is unconstitutionally vague and effectively holds Potelco strictly liable for actions by its temporary employees hired from Labor Ready, a third party vendor. We hold that substantial evidence supports the Board’s challenged findings of fact and those findings support the Board’s conclusions of law that flaggers at Potelco violated WAC 296-155-305(9)(b) at its Bremerton work site and violated WAC 296-155-305(8)(a) at both its Bremerton and Bainbridge Island work sites. We also hold that WAC 296- 155-305(8)(c) is not unconstitutionally vague when applied to Potelco’s conduct at the Bremerton and Bainbridge Island work sites because Potelco was an employer in control of the flaggers at both work sites. We affirm the Board’s order.

FACTS

¶2 Potelco is an electrical company that builds transmission lines and, at times, requires flaggers at its work sites to control traffic. Potelco hires flaggers as temporary employees from Labor Ready, a third party vendor. In October 2011, at Potelco’s request, Labor Ready dispatched flaggers to two of Potelco’s work sites in Bremerton and Bainbridge Island.

[15]*15I. Bremerton Work Site

¶3 At its Bremerton work site, the flaggers set up a series of three advanced warning signs on the road adjacent to where the flaggers were working to provide drivers with advanced notice of the flaggers and the work site. Two compliance inspectors for the Department inspected Potelco’s Bremerton work site in October 2011. When they visited the work site, the inspectors saw a flagger positioned in the roadway directly beside the advanced flagger ahead warning sign. The sign provided no advanced warning to motorists that there was a flagger ahead. The flagger stood in the lane of traffic, allowing for the potential of being struck by a moving vehicle. One of the inspectors recommended citing Potelco for violating WAC 296-155-305(9)(b), which requires an employer to ensure that flaggers are standing either on the shoulder adjacent to the road or on the road in the closed lane prior to the point where road users would come to a stop.2

¶4 One inspector concluded that the sign placement violated WAC 296-155-305(8)(a), which requires a “three sign advance warning sequence on all roadways” when a flagging operation is used, because the sign was not in [16]*16advance of the flagger.3 The inspector recommended issuing the citation as a “serious violation”4 because Potelco’s failure to ensure proper advance warning sign spacing endangered the flagger’s health and safety and because Potelco has previously been cited for a similar violation.

¶5 Potelco’s foreman, Larry Hensley, supervised the work site on the day of the inspection, and after the inspectors advised him of the flagging violations, Hensley stopped work at that site. Based on the inspectors’ recommendations, the Department issued Potelco Citation No. 315583005 (the Bremerton citation) for a serious violation of WAC 296-155-305(8)(c), which requires 100 feet of space between advance warning signs, and a serious violation of [17]*17WAC 296-155-305(9)(b), which requires flaggers to stand on the shoulder adjacent to the road user being controlled or in the closed lane prior to stopping road users.

II. Bainbridge Island Work Site

¶6 In October 2011, after receiving an anonymous referral, the Department also inspected Potelco’s Bainbridge Island work site at Winslow Way and Madison Avenue South.5 The Department’s inspector observed that Potelco’s Bainbridge Island work site did not have the required three advance warning signs to warn motorists of the presence of flaggers. The inspector also observed that there was no signage in two of the directions approaching the work site, and that the other two directions had one sign each instead of the minimum of three advance warning signs required from each direction according to WAC 296-155-305(8)(a).

¶7 Other contractors were performing work several blocks away, and those contractors also erected advanced warning signs. Hensley, Potelco’s foreman, also supervised work at the Bainbridge Island work site. Hensley testified at the board hearing that he considered all of the area being worked on Winslow Way as one jobsite, but conceded that the other contractors were not responsible for conducting Potelco’s traffic control. Based on this investigation, the Department issued Potelco Citation No. 315249847 (the Bainbridge Island citation) for a repeat serious violation of WAC 296-155-305(8)(a) for failing to establish a series of three advance warning signs in each direction of Potelco’s work site.

¶8 Based on the inspectors’ recommendations, the Department cited Potelco twice for three WISHA safety violations at the Bremerton and Bainbridge Island work sites and assessed three monetary penalties. The Department found that (1) the spacing between advanced warning signs [18]*18at Potelco’s Bremerton work site was not adequate for an urban street, (2) a Labor Ready flagger stood in the lane of traffic at Potelco’s Bremerton work site prior to road users coming to a stop, and (3) there were not three advanced warning signs as required at Potelco’s Bainbridge Island work site. Potelco appealed both citations to the Board, and the industrial appeals judge (ALJ) who conducted the board hearing affirmed in part the two citations,6 ruling that based on the “economic realities” test,7 Potelco was an employer liable for the violations at both work sites. Bd. Record (BR) at 32. The ALJ also ruled that Potelco failed to (1) ensure that its flaggers did not stand in the roadway, thereby exposing the flaggers to the hazards of oncoming drivers, (2) place adequate advance warning signs at its Bremerton work site, and (3) place adequate advance warning signs at its Bainbridge Island work site.

¶9 Potelco petitioned for review of both citations before the full Board. The Board denied review, adopting the ALJ’s proposed decision as its final decision and order. Potelco appealed to superior court. The superior court affirmed the Board, determining that Potelco failed to show that the Board erred in making its factual findings or legal conclusions. Potelco appealed to this court, challenging the Board’s findings of fact 2-3 and 12-13, and conclusions of law 2, 4, and 7-8 in the Board’s decision and order. They read as follows in pertinent part,

Findings of Fact

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Potelco, Inc. v. Department of Labor & Industries, 361 P.3d 767, 191 Wash. App. 9 (Wash. Ct. App. 2015).

361 P.3d 767 (Potelco, Inc. v. Department of Labor & Industries) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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