The Small Yard and the Owner's Belief
An independent ship repair yard with 14 employees has a contract to replace a section of deck plating on a 180-foot tugboat. The owner tells the crew that OSHA has no authority over shipyards because the U.S. Coast Guard inspects vessels. The yard has no written hazard assessment, no respiratory protection program, and no OSHA 300 injury log. A worker is told to use a 12-foot wooden scaffold plank as a work platform between two sawhorses while grinding paint from the hull. The plank has a visible crack. There is no guardrail, and the worker is not trained in scaffold use. The worker falls and breaks a wrist. The owner says the injury is 'not recordable' because the worker is a contractor, not an employee. The worker wants to know whether OSHA covers the yard, what standards apply, and what the employer must do now.
1. Does OSHA have jurisdiction over the ship repair yard? Explain the relationship between OSHA and the Coast Guard.
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Yes. OSHA covers shipyard employment under 29 CFR 1915. The Coast Guard regulates vessel safety and seaworthiness, but it does not replace OSHA's authority over workplace safety and health. The owner's belief that Coast Guard inspection eliminates OSHA coverage is incorrect. The yard is a shipyard engaged in ship repair, and its employees are covered.
OSHA can inspect the yard, require abatement, and cite the employer for violations. If a hazard is not covered by a specific standard, OSHA can use the General Duty Clause, which requires employers to provide a workplace free of recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. The 14-employee size does not exempt the yard from the shipyard standards or from the duty to keep injury records if the establishment is covered by the recordkeeping rule.
2. Which OSHA standards and employer duties apply to the scaffold and painting work?
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The scaffold plank is being used as an improvised work platform, and it has a visible crack. That is a recognized fall and structural failure hazard. The employer must provide a safe scaffold or work platform, inspect it before use, and ensure workers are trained. The lack of guardrails and fall protection also violates the applicable shipyard fall protection requirements. Grinding paint can create dust and fume hazards, so the employer must assess exposure and provide ventilation or respiratory protection if needed.
The employer's duties include hazard assessment, training, PPE, safe access, and supervision. The employer cannot rely on the worker to notice the cracked plank and improvise. The correct abatement is to remove the defective plank from service, provide a proper scaffold or elevated platform with guardrails, train the worker, and evaluate the grinding exposure before work resumes.
3. What are the employer's reporting and recordkeeping obligations, and what worker rights are implicated?
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The wrist fracture must be evaluated for recordability. A fracture is generally recordable if it results from a work-related incident and involves medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, restricted work, or days away from work. The owner's claim that the worker is a contractor does not decide the issue; the key question is whether the worker is an employee for OSHA purposes and whether the injury is work-related. The employer must record the case on the OSHA 300 log if it meets the criteria.
The employer must report a fatality within 8 hours and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours. The worker has the right to report the injury and hazard, to access the injury log, and to be protected from retaliation. The employer should correct the scaffold hazard immediately and not discourage the worker from seeking medical care or filing a complaint.