By: dmc-admin//June 25, 2002//
“NIS drivers drove truckloads of steel to designated delivery points, loosened the restraints on the loads, and occasionally helped to rig the load. While the steel itself was fashioned by Vulcan into catwalks, handrails, and other structures that were vital to the mining process, the work performed by the NIS drivers at the mine can only be described as de minimis. In fact, there is nothing to distinguish NIS’s deliveries of steel from deliveries by other vendors or parcel delivery companies of supplies to be used by the miners. We need not adopt the more restrictive Old Dominion approach, because we believe that NIS’s conduct falls outside of MHSA’s jurisdiction under the plain language of the statute. Unlike Otis and Joy, NIS cannot be characterized as an independent contractor providing services at a mine because the minimal activity performed by NIS does not rise to a level that can be construed as services performed at a mine. Therefore, NIS is not subject to the Mine Act, and the MSHA citation cannot be enforced.”
Reversed.
On Petition for Review of a Decision of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, Harlington Wood, J.