Question: Between my freshman and sophomore years of college I worked for a pool company. My essential duties were pouring chemicals (chlorine and muriatic acid) into large and small containers and delivering the chemicals to client businesses. When I first started my summer job I was told to wear old clothes and shown generally how to pour the chemicals. I was not provided any eye protection, rubber gloves or any suitable clothing for the job. The chlorine was kept on site in a jerry-rigged old tub/pool parts and the muriatic acid (corrosive and highly caustic) was kept at an old barn about a mile away with only a rope between two posts over the driveway with a lock to keep the public out (there was a day care within the vicinity). At the barn there was no clean water, no fencing and only rocks on the ground on which the muriatic drums sat. The whole operation could be dismantled in an hour if need be. During that summer I experienced:
*Potentially permanent (fortunately only temporary) loss of vision in one eye when the valve of the chlorine dispenser malfunctioned and a burst of chlorine hit directly in my eye
- Burns to my legs and arms from pouring muriatic acid. Scars remained on my legs for a few years afterwards.
- Destruction of a number of pairs of shoes due to the exposure to the chemicals (one was high top leather Converse that I really loved)
- I was only paid $4.05 per hour!!! - this satisfied the current minimum wage laws
The text points out that under some circumstances a search of a business may occur without a warrant. Given the brief facts that I posted above (all real) do you believe OSHA and/or another administrative agency could have conducted a warrantless search at the pool company for whom I worked - had I reported the incidences? If so, under what theory(ies)? Apply your legal reasoning in the IRAC format.