Accident Prevention Division v. Gorsage, Inc.
Accident Prevention Division v. Gorsage, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
Accident Prevention Division (APD) seeks review of a Workers’ Compensation Board order vacating a citation and penalty. We reverse and reinstate the citation and penalty.
APD cited defendant, a masonry contractor, for a violation of OAR 437-83-1959, a rule governing the use of scaffolding and ladders on construction sites. The rule requires:
“Guardrails and toeboards shall be installed on all open sides and ends of platforms more than 10 feet above the ground or floor, except needle-beam, ladderjacks and float scaffolds, (see Rules 437-83-2446, 437-83-2496 and 437-83-2536).”
The Board held that APD should instead have cited OAR 437-83-2169, which provides:
“Tubular welded frame scaffolds shall be equipped with guardrails as prescribed in rules 437-83-1959 through 437-83-1976.”
The Board reasoned that APD erred in citing a general rule prescribing standards for all types of platforms, rather than the specific rule prescribing safety standards for tubular welded frame scaffolding, because,
“where the specific standard [OAR 437-83-2169] addressed a specific condition (guardrails as prescribed), then it is not appropriate for the general standard [OAR 437-83-1959] to become applicable, and that is the situation in this case.” (Emphasis in original.)
It vacated the citation and the penalty.
1,2. The rule of statutory construction that a specific rule controls over a general rule applies in a situation where there is a conflict or inconsistency between the two rules. ORS 174.020; Davis v. Wasco Intermediate Education District, 286 Or 261, 593 P2d 1152 (1979). There is no inconsistency or conflict between the two rules. The rule cited by APD, although in a section pertaining to all scaffolding and ladders, contains specific requirements necessary to the implementation of the rule that the Board concluded should have been cited, OAR 437-83-2169. Furthermore, OAR 437-83-2169 incorporates by reference the rule actually cited. Thus, the two rules are complementary rather than contradictory.
Reversed and remanded for reinstatement of the citation and penalty.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.