Section 88.11. Procedures to counteract imminent dangers.

  1.  Imminent danger orders.  The district court of the county in which the imminent danger is alleged to exist shall have jurisdiction, upon petition of the commissioner, to restrain any conditions or practices in any place of employment which are such that a danger exists which will reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical harm immediately or before the imminence of such danger can be eliminated through the enforcement procedures otherwise provided by this chapter. In the event the appropriate trial judge is not available, any judge of the judicial district in which such county is located shall have authority to issue orders under this section. Any order issued under this section may require such steps to be taken as may be necessary to avoid, correct, or remove such imminent danger and prohibit the employment or presence of any individual in locations or under conditions where such imminent danger exists, except individuals whose presence is necessary to avoid, correct or remove such imminent danger or to maintain the capacity of a continuous process operation to resume normal operations without a complete cessation of operations, or where a cessation of operations is necessary, to permit such to be accomplished in a safe and orderly manner.

  2.  Imminent danger proceedings.  Upon the filing of any such petition the said district court shall have jurisdiction to grant such injunctive relief or temporary restraining order pending the outcome of an enforcement proceeding pursuant to this chapter. The proceedings shall be as provided by the Iowa rules of civil procedure. No temporary restraining order issued without notice shall be effective for a period longer than five days.

  3.  Notification.  Whenever and as soon as an inspector concludes that the conditions or practices described in subsection 1 of this section exist in any place of employment, the inspector shall inform the affected employees and employers of the danger and that the inspector is recommending to the commissioner that relief be sought. The commissioner shall adopt rules prescribing the procedures in enforcing imminent danger orders which procedures shall reasonably conform to those promulgated under the federal law insofar as the same do not conflict with state law.

  4.  Employee’s rights.  If the commissioner arbitrarily or capriciously fails to seek relief under this section, any employee who may be injured by reason of such failure, or the authorized employee representative, may bring an action against the said commissioner in the district court of the county in which the imminent danger is alleged to exist or in which the employer’s principal office is located, for a writ of mandamus to compel the commissioner to seek such an order and for such further relief as may be appropriate.

[C66, 71, §88A.17; C73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §88.11]