A private person who inspects a workplace can be held liable for injury or death due to hazards that should have been found and addressed. That is effectively what the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia recently held in answering a certified question posed by a U.S. Court of Appeals in need of advice on state law. In Bragg v. U.S., plaintiffs sought damages for the deaths of two miners who succumbed to carbon monoxide in a coal mine fire. The case was brought against the U.S. government under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for negligent inspection by MSHA.
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