17,082 Turf Construction, Inc.

Digest of COSHAB-ALJ's decision dated April 17, 1987, Docket No. 86-R4D5-1665 (Camarillo, CA). Douglas M. Phillips, Administrative Law Judge.

For Employer: Bob Taylor, President. For DOSH: George R. MacDonald, CSE.

A serious violation of 1597(f) (transporting employees) was affirmed, but the proposed $400 penalty was reduced to $200.

Employer, an excavator and pipeline installer, admitted facts constituting a serious violation. An employee was transported on the left fender of a backhoe, which had no seat or seat belt provided for a passenger on the fender. Employer asserted the affirmative defense of employee misconduct (independent employee acti