NFIB: Contractors Not Responsible for Subs' Safety

Washington, DC, October 4, 2007--The National Federation of Independent Business Legal Foundation has urged the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to limit a business owner's liability under the Occupational Safety and Health Act to only those workers who are employed directly by the business owner.

The issue before the court is interpreting the scope of 29 C.F.R. §1910.12(a), which states that "Each employer shall protect the employment and places of employment of each of his employees engaged in construction work."

OSHA contends that this regulation requires general contractors to oversee the safety programs of all subcontractors and their employees, while businesses insist the regulation limits an employer's duty to only his employees.

NFIB, along with other business allies, argues that holding general contractors liable for actions taken by subcontractors and their employees is an unfair and unworkable burden to place on general contractors. NFIB says general contractors can't be responsible for employees and situations that they do not have control over.

NFIB believes that extending OSHA liability under this rule will significantly harm the home-building industry. The vast majority of single-family home builders are very small; about 81% of them build fewer than 25 homes per year. These builders rely heavily on specialized subcontractors to perform much or even all of the actual labor.

While the builder knows something about every specialized contractor's work, NFIB says, the builder rarely knows enough, or has the time, to completely oversee all of the work done by the contractors.