S.A. Healy Company v. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and Robert B. Reich, Secretary of Labor

EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge.

On November 10, 1988, three employees died in a methane gas explosion in the Crosstown Seven North Tunnel, a sewage tunnel S.A. Healy Company was building in Milwaukee. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (osha) investigated the explosion and cited Healy for 68 wilful violations of its standards. 29 U.S.C. § 666(a). Forty-nine of the violations related to standards that apply when explosive gas is likely to be present. The Secretary issued the citation under the “egregious” or “instance-by-in-stanee” policy, which penalizes each distinct violation of a…