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The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) overturned a decision related to an OSHA citation under the general duty clause alleging an Ohio roofer exposed its employees to "excessive heat," The National Law Review reports. The initial OSHA citation of A.H. Sturgill Roofing found the company exposed employees to excessive heat and failed to provide adequate heat-related training. The OSHRC previously ruled that citations under OSHA's General Duty Clause are used as a "gotcha" and "catchall" for hazards without established standards, such as heat hazards.

The backdrop for the Sturgill case was the death of a temporary employee after he suffered a heat stroke on his first day on the job. The employee was a 60-year-old man with “various preexisting medical conditions.” The work being done consisted of removing a building’s existing roof so a new roof could be installed. At the hottest part of the day, the heat index was 85°F, which was in the “caution” category of the National Weather Service’s heat advisory chart.

In order to prove a violation of the general duty clause, OSHA must show: 1) a condition or activity in the workplace presented a hazard; (2) the employer or its industry recognized the hazard; (3) the hazard was causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm; and (4) a feasible and effective means existed to eliminate or materially reduce the hazard. In Sturgill, the employer argued that the judge erred in finding the presence of a hazard because there was no “excessive heat” at the worksite. The Commission agreed.

To prove a hazard under the general duty clause, the Secretary of Labor has to show employees were exposed to a significant risk of harm. The Commission held that the Secretary did not meet this burden and that the judged erred in relying on the NWS Heat Index chart to establish a hazard. The NWS Heat Index chart sets out four warning levels—caution, extreme caution, danger, and extreme danger— these levels indicate the “likelihood of heat disorders with prolonged exposure or strenuous activity.” The Commission held the Secretary did not prove that the employees suffered prolonged exposure or that their work could be considered strenuous activity. Further, the Commission held that the NWS Heat Index chart’s label of “caution” “simply does not connote a significant risk of harm.”

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