Sherwood Mechanical v. Cal OSHA Appeal Bd. CA4/1

I.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND2

This appeal concerns a May 19, 2008,3 accident at the site of the construction of

the Hilton San Diego Convention Center Hotel in downtown San Diego. Hensel Phelps

Construction Co. (Hensel) was the general contractor, and Sherwood was the plumbing

subcontractor. Sherwood was responsible for the installation and delivery to Hensel of

properly working industrial water heaters (also known as boilers) that would generate the

hot water and steam necessary for the hotel. As pertinent here, Sherwood was required to

bring in the water lines and gas lines to the boilers and to coordinate with the electrical

contractor to ensure sufficient power to operate the systems.

On the date of the accident, the physical structure was almost complete — more

than 30 stories with windows already installed and the Hilton signage being elevated to

the top of the structure. Sherwood's two employees on the jobsite, Richard Brown and

Stanley Solis, were in the process of finalizing the installation of the gas lines to the four

boilers in the mechanical room on the fifth floor (5th floor MR). Jerry Barron, who

worked for another subcontractor, was in the 5th floor MR…