240
Opinion of the Court
Without reaching the question whether Rig 52 was a "workplace" under § 4(a) of the OSH Act, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed. It held that the Coast Guard "has exclusive jurisdiction over the regulation of working conditions of seamen aboard vessels such as [Rig 52], thus precluding OSHA's regulation under Section 4(b)(1) of the OSH Act." 212 F. 3d 898, 900 (2000). The Court of Appeals determined that this pre-emption encompassed uninspected vessels such as Rig 52, as well as inspected ones, explaining that the Coast Guard "has in fact exercised" its "authority to issue safety regulations for uninspected vessels"—as § 4(b)(1) requires for pre-emption. Id., at 901 (stating, with respect to uninspected vessels, that the Coast Guard has issued regulations concerning "life preservers and other lifesaving equipment; emergency alerting and locating equipment; fire extinguishing equipment; backfire flame control; ventilation of tanks and engine spaces; cooking, heating, and lighting systems; safety orientation and emergency instructions; action required after an accident; and signaling lights"). However, the court conceded that "[b]ecause a drilling barge is not self-propelled, some of these regulations, by their nature, do not apply to [Rig 52]." Id., at 901, n. 6.
Because other Courts of Appeals have construed the preemptive force of § 4(b)(1) more narrowly than did the Fifth Circuit, akin to the interpretation adopted by the ALJ in this case,5 we granted certiorari to resolve the conflict. 531 U. S. 1143 (2001). We reverse, as the statute requires us to do.
The OSH Act imposes on covered employers a duty to provide working conditions that "are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious
5 See Herman v. Tidewater Pacific, Inc., 160 F. 3d 1239 (CA9 1998); In re Inspection of Norfolk Dredging Co., 783 F. 2d 1526 (CA11), cert. denied, 479 U. S. 883 (1986); Donovan v. Red Star Marine Services, Inc., 739 F. 2d 774 (CA2 1984), cert. denied, 470 U. S. 1003 (1985).
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