Tessier's, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor, No. 20-2359 (8th Cir. 2021)
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After a Tessier's employee was modifying a hole cover on the roof of an unfinished building when the cover collapsed and he fell 22 feet to the floor below, OSHA issued a citation against Tessier's under 29 C.F.R. 1926.501(b)(4)(i), for failing to protect its employees from falling through holes.
The Eighth Circuit denied the petition for review filed by Tessier's, concluding that substantial evidence supported the ALJ's conclusion that the employees had removed a one-foot-by-three-foot section of the cover before it collapsed and, in doing so, exposed a hole. Because this hole was not covered and was more than six feet above the second floor, Tessier's was required to protect its employees from falling by means of an alternative form of fall protection, which it had not done. Therefore, the ALJ did not err in concluding that Tessier's had committed the violation.
Court Description: [Wollman, Author, with Colloton and Kobes, Circuit Judges] Petition for Review - Order of the Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission. The Secretary presented sufficient evidence to allow a reasonable person to conclude that petitioner's employees removed a section of the cover over a hole causing the cover to collapse and leading to the accident which injured plaintiff's employee. [ July 21, 2021 ]
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