Mallard Bay Drilling, Inc. v. Alexis Herman, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor

# Court Ruling Summary: Mallard Bay Drilling v. Secretary of Labor **What Happened** Mallard Bay Drilling, a company operating an offshore drilling barge, received a workplace safety citation from OSHA (the federal agency that enforces workplace safety rules). The company challenged this citation, arguing that OSHA had no authority to regulate safety conditions on their vessel. **What the Court Decided** The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Mallard Bay Drilling. The court ruled that the U.S. Coast Guard, not OSHA, has exclusive responsibility for overseeing working conditions on vessels and drilling barges. Because OSHA lacked this authority, the safety citation against the company was reversed. **Why This Matters for Workers** This ruling created an important gap in worker protections. Employees working on offshore drilling barges and similar vessels are now primarily regulated by the Coast Guard rather than OSHA. Workers in these positions should understand that their safety oversight comes from a different federal agency with potentially different standards and enforcement approaches than workers in land-based industries.