[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 5]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR1905.22]

[Page 72-73]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
CHAPTER XVII--OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT 
                                OF LABOR
 
                           Subpart C--Hearings
 
Sec. 1905.22  Hearing examiners; powers and duties.

    (a) Powers. A hearing examiner designated to preside over a hearing 
shall have all powers necessary or appropriate to conduct a fair, full, 
and impartial hearing, including the following:
    (1) To administer oaths and affirmations;
    (2) To rule upon offers of proof and receive relevant evidence;
    (3) To provide for discovery and to determine its scope;
    (4) To regulate the course of the hearing and the conduct of the 
parties and their counsel therein;
    (5) To consider and rule upon procedural requests;
    (6) To hold conferences for the settlement or simplification of the 
issues by consent of the parties;
    (7) To make, or to cause to be made, an inspection of the employment 
or place of employment involved.
    (8) To make decisions in accordance with the Act, this part, and the 
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. Ch. 5); and
    (9) To take any other appropriate action authorized by the Act, this 
part, or the Administrative Procedure Act.
    (b) Private consultation. Except to the extent required for the 
disposition of ex parte matters, a hearing examiner may not consult a 
person or a party on any fact at issue, unless upon notice and 
opportunity for all parties to participate.
    (c) Disqualification. (1) When a hearing examiner deems himself 
disqualified to preside over a particular hearing, he shall withdraw 
therefrom by notice on the record directed to the Chief Hearing 
Examiner.
    (2) Any party who deems a hearing examiner for any reason to be 
disqualified to preside, or to continue to preside, over a particular 
hearing, may file with the Chief Hearing Examiner of the Department of 
Labor a motion to disqualify and remove the hearing examiner, such 
motion to be supported

[[Page 73]]

by affidavits setting forth the alleged grounds for disqualification. 
The Chief Hearing Examiner shall rule upon the motion.
    (d) Contumacious conduct; failure or refusal to appear or obey the 
rulings of a presiding hearing examiner. (1) Contumacious conduct at any 
hearing before the hearing examiner shall be grounds for exclusion from 
the hearing.
    (2) If a witness or a party refuses to answer a question after being 
directed to do so, or refuses to obey an order to provide or permit 
discovery, the hearing examiner may make such orders with regard to the 
refusal as are just and appropriate, including an order denying the 
application of an applicant or regulating the contents of the record of 
the hearing.
    (e) Referral to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. On any procedural 
question not regulated by this part, the Act, or the Administrative 
Procedure Act, a hearing examiner shall be guided to the extent 
practicable by any pertinent provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil 
Procedure.