Here’s a summary of a real court case that looks at an employer’s liability for injuries to an independent contractor’s employee caused by a safety hazard in the employer’s workplace.
The supervisor of an independent contractor called his crew in for a quick rundown of their job responsibilities for an upcoming assignment. “Okay, guys, we have a job lasting several months repairing two cooling towers at the gas company. We’re all going to attend a safety meeting over there where the gas company is going to show us a video and hand out a safety manual. I want everyone to pay attention and do a good job.”
The supervisor at the gas company ran an informative safety meeting. After the meeting, the independent contractor’s supervisor assigned two employees to work in a small dome used to store an ammonium sulfate by-product. They were instructed to perform welding work inside and to construct a doorway to prevent ammonium sulfate from leaving the dome.
The gas company supervisor informed the independent contractor’s supervisor about a potential ammonium sulfate hazard in the dome.
For the first 20 minutes, everything seemed to be proceeding smoothly. Then suddenly on of the employee’s eyes started burning, and he had difficulty breathing. He and his co-worker quickly left the dome and searched for their supervisor.
“We can’t work in there. We can barely breathe,” the workers told him
“Just finish the work quickly and come out,” the independent contractor’s supervisor told his employees.
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The workers followed his orders and went back into the dome, but soon one of them collapsed from the fumes and was rushed to a hospital where he was diagnosed with reactive airway dysfunction syndrome.
Worker Sues
While collecting workers’ compensation for his injuries, the independent contractor’s employee consulted an attorney who advised him to sue the gas company for failing to provide for his safety.
In court, his attorney stated that although his client did not work for the gas company directly, the gas company was responsible for his safety because it controlled the work area.
The safety manual and video were presented as evidence that the gas company was in control of the well-being of the independent contractor’s employees. And the injured worker’s lawyer told the court that the gas company was negligent in failing to protect the worker.
The Court’s Ruling
The gas company was not responsible for the worker’s injuries, ruled the North Dakota Supreme Court. The contract clearly gave the independent contractor complete control over the injured employee’s work. Also, it was clear that the independent contractor’s supervisor directed the details of his employees’ work, not the supervisor of the gas company. This meant that the independent contractor was completely responsible for making sure its employees were protected from the hazardous fumes of ammonium sulfate.
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What This Means
Generally, a company that hires an independent contractor is not liable for the contractor’s negligence. One exception is when the company retains control over the contractor’s work. Such control would include directing the manner in which the job was done and retaining the right to supervise in detail so that the contractor is not entirely free to do the work in his own way. Usually this control is spelled out in the contract.
If you do hire independent contractors, however, you should provide them with all relevant safety information about your place of work and warn them of any hidden hazards. Also, be aware that certain OSHA standards, such as hazard communication and process safety, require you to provide this information to your contractors.
In the case described here, the independent contractor was told about the presence of ammonium sulfate in the dome. With this knowledge, it was up to them to carry out the work safely. Had the employer failed to provide hazard information to the independent contractor, however, the result might well have been different.