Sully-Miller Contracting Co. v. California OSHA Bd., 138 Cal. App. 4th 684 (2006)

Sully-Miller, an asphalt-paving company, leased one of its employees, Jeff Moreno, to Manhole Adjusting, Inc., as a roller operator. While working at Manhole’s worksite, Moreno was fatally injured when he was thrown from the roller because it lacked an operable seatbelt. OSHA cited Sully-Miller for a serious violation of the employer safety provisions of its regulations due to Sully-Miller’s failure to have an Injury Prevention Program (IPP) that would have instructed Moreno to refuse to work at the secondary site until he was provided an operative seatbelt and further for its failure to provide periodic monitoring of the worksite. The Court of Appeal concluded that Sully-Miller was Moreno’s primary employer and that it was not relieved of its responsibilities to provide general safety training to its employees when the employee is leased to a secondary employer. Cf. Violante v. Communities Southwest Development & Constr. Co., 138 Cal. App. 4th 972 (2006) (subcontractor’s employee on a public works project cannot sue the general contractor for the sub’s non-payment of prevailing wages).