San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District v. Division of Occupational Safety & Health
Opinion
lead Opinion
Poché, J.
*364 Opinion
Petitioner, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) seeks mandamus to annul a special order of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Division) requiring modification of fire hose outlets in the Transbay Tube. We conclude that Labor Code section 6800, subdivision (b), confers jurisdiction on the Division over the safety of BART employees but only with respect to activities and locations mentioned in that statute, no one of which is involved in the challenged order. Accordingly, we direct the Division to vacate its order.
On January 17, 1979, a fire occurred aboard a BART train operating in BART’s Transbay Tube. Thereafter the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) conducted hearings and issued safety orders which resulted first in the closing and then in the resumption of service subject to certain safety requirements. After its own investigation the Division issued a special order requiring outlets for fire hoses to be extended into the gallery between tunnels within the Transbay Tube. In the administrative appeals process that followed, BART unsuccessfully contested the Division’s jurisdiction to issue this special order.