Ohio: Court Affirmed VSSR Penalty Against Local Fire Department

An Ohio appellate court affirmed the imposition of a penalty for the violation of a specific safety requirement (VSSR) by a local fire department where the Commission found the district violated the maximum 24-inch step-to-ground-level on a district owned fire engine. The court observed that the fire district had received a recommendation in 2009 that it consider — for safety purposes — installing an additional step into the vehicle cab. While knowledge of the defect was a requirement under Ohio’s VSSR statute, the 2009 recommendation was sufficient to put the district on notice. Following the employee’s injury, a measurement of the step-to-ground distance showed that the bottom step was 25 inches from the ground.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See State ex rel. Madison Fire Dist. v. Industrial Comm’n of Ohio, 2020-Ohio-463, 2020 Ohio App. LEXIS 428 (Feb. 11, 2020)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 105.06.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law

For a more detailed discussion of the case, see

Sign up for the free LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation enewsletter at www.lexisnexis.com/wcnews.