Federal agency decisions, searchable in plain English.
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) and mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Russell B. Le Frois Builder, Inc.
Citation vacated after Secretary declined to file complaint
The Commission remanded Russell B. Le Frois Builder's case for further proceedings. Chief Judge Irving Sommer then ordered the Secretary of Labor to file a complaint within twenty days. The Secretary declined to do so, and the judge vacated the May 14, 1998 citation in its entirety.
Exterior Insulation & Stucco, Inc.
Citations affirmed after incomplete discovery responses
Exterior Insulation & Stucco did not answer the Secretary's discovery requests until a judge ordered it to do so. Its eventual responses omitted witnesses, financial information, and the factual basis for its denials, and repeatedly promised information later instead of providing it. Chief Judge…
Mohegan Glass & Window Company, Inc.
Late contest dismissed despite personal hardships
Mohegan Glass & Window filed its notice of contest after the 15-working-day deadline in the OSHA citation had expired. The company's president said he had limited written English, his usual business advisers were away, his wife was hospitalized, and he believed correcting the cited conditions ended…
Pickus Construction and Equipment Company, Inc.
Trench citation affirmed after repeated foreman warnings
OSHA observed a Pickus Construction employee grading inside an unprotected trench that was six feet deep in Type B soil. Chief Judge Irving Sommer credited the compliance officer's measurements over conflicting company testimony and found the cave-in-protection rule violated. Pickus argued…
Dessau Brass, Inc.
Late contest dismissed despite OSHA inexperience and financial hardship
Dessau Brass received serious citations on December 10, 1998, but did not contest them until March 29, 1999, after OSHA sought overdue penalties. The company said it had corrected the conditions, was unfamiliar with OSHA, misunderstood the fifteen-day deadline, and would suffer financial hardship…
Hechinger Investment Company of Delaware, Inc., d/b/a Builders Square
Defective ladder-stand locks affirmed
OSHA inspected a Builders Square store after the manager failed to respond to a complaint about ladder-stand wheels. Six of about twelve rolling ladder stands moved when tested because their automatic caster locks did not hold them firmly in place. An employee was using a wobbly ten-step stand with…
RBV, Inc., d/b/a R.B. Ventures
Late contest dismissed despite officer's hospitalization
R.B. Ventures received an OSHA citation on November 18, 1998, making December 10 the contest deadline, but filed on December 14. The secretary-treasurer who normally handled all paperwork was hospitalized for cancer-related treatment from late November until December 13. Chief Judge Irving Sommer…
Baker Drywall Company, Inc.
Aerial-lift and edge fall violations affirmed
Baker Drywall employees relocated metal studs on simulated smokestacks at a movie theater construction site. One worked from an aerial-lift basket without tying off and at one point straddled its top rail, while another stood on a structural ring about 16 feet above a steel roof without fall…
Yannuzzi, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued Yannuzzi a serious citation after a May 1998 inspection, and the company received it on June 4, 1998. Its 15-working-day contest period expired on June 25, but its first written response was sent in August and its request for a late notice of contest did not reach the Commission until…
Best Structures, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
Best Structures received an OSHA citation on July 27, 1998, and its 15-working-day contest period ended on August 17. The company did not file a notice of contest until January 10, 1999, explaining that business demands and a lack of administrative help had delayed its response. Chief Judge Irving…
Windward Roofing & Construction, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
Windward received copies of a serious OSHA citation in July 1998, making August 5 the final day to file a notice of contest. Both copies were placed on the desk of the accounting manager responsible for OSHA matters, who went on vacation and then resigned without returning. The company did not…
J & H Reinforcing & Structural Erectors, Inc.
Scissor-lift surface violation affirmed
J & H Reinforcing & Structural Erectors used a scissor lift for welding work at a library construction project in Huntington, West Virginia. The lift tipped when a wheel entered a 5.5-inch-deep offset, and the operator sustained a life-threatening injury. Chief Judge Irving Sommer found that the…
The Ryan Company, Inc.
Excavation and sling citations vacated
The Ryan Company installed utility lines in an excavation at the Philadelphia Naval Base. OSHA alleged that employees worked in an excavation more than five feet deep without a protective system. Chief Judge Irving Sommer found no proof that employees entered the 5-foot-2-inch area and found the…
Sierra Resources, Inc.
Nine serious lead violations affirmed
Sierra Resources removed and replaced bridge bearing assemblies in Blue Island, Illinois, using torch cutting on paint that testing showed contained 50 percent lead. OSHA sampling measured one employee's exposure at 119.7 micrograms per cubic meter, more than twice the permissible limit, and…
Preston Trucking Company, Inc.
Late contest dismissed after citation was misplaced
Preston Trucking received an OSHA citation but filed its notice of contest well after the 15-working-day deadline. The terminal manager was on vacation when the citation arrived, and his secretary misplaced it. Preston argued that it took safety seriously, promptly abated the cited conditions, and…
Mr. Fox Tire Company, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued Mr. Fox Tire Company a serious citation after inspecting its business. The company received the citation on December 19, 1997, making January 14, 1998 the deadline for a written notice of contest, but it submitted only an abatement verification form during that period. Its owner later…
BCB Construction, Inc.
Faxed citation triggered contest deadline
OSHA cited BCB Construction after inspecting a multi-employer construction site where an accident caused one employee's death and another employee's serious injury. Certified-mail delivery to BCB's address of record failed after three attempts, but OSHA faxed the citation to a law firm that said it…
West Winds Construction, Inc.
Scaffold planking and fall-protection violations affirmed
West Winds Construction employees repaired plaster from partially dismantled scaffold platforms that were not fully planked and had no guardrails. The workers faced falls of about 18 to 20 feet, and the site foreman directed and observed the work. Chief Judge Irving Sommer imputed the foreman's…
Heinz Pet Products a/d/a Star-Kist Foods, Inc.
Union objections did not prevent settlement approval
Heinz Pet Products and the Secretary reached a settlement after Heinz contested citations alleging several violations. The employees' union objected because it had not participated in the negotiations, questioned whether hazards were abated, and disputed the penalty reductions and…
Richards Roofing, Inc., and Construction
Inexperience did not excuse late contest
Richards Roofing received an OSHA citation on October 6, 1997, making October 28 the deadline for a notice of contest. It filed on October 31 and explained that it was unfamiliar with OSHA procedures. Chief Judge Irving Sommer found that the citation cover letter and accompanying OSHA booklet…
O'Connor & Taylor, Inc.
Clerical date error did not excuse late contest
O'Connor & Taylor received an OSHA citation on April 20, 1998, making May 11 the deadline for a notice of contest. A clerical error caused the company to record April 22 as the receipt date and file after the 15-working-day period. Chief Judge Irving Sommer found no improper conduct by the…
Island Lathing & Plastering, Inc.
Scaffold and ladder violations affirmed with $55,000 in penalties
Island Lathing & Plastering was performing interior plastering work at a multistory theater project. OSHA found an employee working from an unlocked mobile scaffold beside a balcony edge without fall protection, then descending a ladder while facing away from it. The judge found that the foreman…
Harpis Exteriors
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued Harpis Exteriors a citation and proposed penalties in October 1997. The company received the citation on October 8 but did not send a notice of contest before the October 30 deadline. Its owner said he misread the citation, promptly corrected the cited conditions, and contacted OSHA and…
J & B Masonry and Construction, Inc.
Oral discussion did not preserve late contest
OSHA issued J & B Masonry and Construction a citation and proposed penalty in September 1997. The company's president said he spoke with the compliance officer after receiving the citation and believed that conversation was enough to make an appeal. He also said he did not carefully read the…
Rausch Construction Company
Both excavation citations affirmed for a $5,100 penalty
Rausch Construction Company was doing sewer line connection work at an excavation site in Chicago. An OSHA compliance officer driving by in May 1997 stopped and measured the trench, finding it about 6.5 feet deep in Type C soil with vertical walls that should have been sloped to 34 degrees, and a…
Exterior Erecting Systems, Inc.
Secretary's illness did not excuse late contest
Exterior Erecting Systems received an OSHA citation on September 2, 1997, but did not contest it before the September 23 deadline. The company explained that its secretary signed for the citation and then left work for two months because of a serious illness. Other office staff handled her duties…
Condor Construction Company
Willful/repeat trenching citation and hard-hat citation affirmed for $23,000
Condor Construction was building a church and day-care facility in New Rochelle, New York. OSHA had already cited and settled with the company twice at the same site for leaving employees in an unprotected excavation. On a third inspection in June 1996, the compliance officer found employees again…
Victory Memorial Hospital & Skilled Nursing Center
Ethylene-oxide safety violations yield $12,150
Victory Memorial Hospital used ethylene oxide to sterilize instruments in its central sterile supply area. OSHA cited the hospital after finding that the area monitor was not operating, the written emergency plan was incomplete, and several recordkeeping and employee-notification duties were not…
Processing Technologies, Inc.
Uncontested citations affirmed with penalties cut for good faith
Processing Technologies, Inc. was inspected by OSHA in August 1997 and issued a three-item serious citation plus one other-than-serious item. The company did not dispute that the violations happened; it only challenged the penalty amounts. The violations involved flammable materials stored within…
DDC Interiors, Inc.
Late contest denied after the citation was overlooked
DDC Interiors received an OSHA citation on November 5, 1997, but did not file its notice of contest until December 29, after the 15-working-day deadline. The company's vice-president explained that she and her assistant had been absent, the citation was overlooked on her desk, and a death in her…
Atlantic Casting & Engineering Corporation
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation becomes final
Atlantic Casting & Engineering Corporation received an OSHA citation by certified mail on July 30, 1997. Under the law, an employer has 15 working days to file a written notice of contest, or the citation and penalties become final automatically. Atlantic's deadline was August 20, 1997, but it did…
Windham Construction Corp.
Fall-protection and aerial-lift violations affirmed
Windham Construction Corporation was repairing structural steel beneath the Gowanus Expressway in New York. An OSHA officer saw an employee ride an aerial lift without tying off, climb onto the basket railing, and work between a shoring tower and a beam without fall protection. The judge credited…
Macedos Construction Company, Inc.
Serious construction citation resolved by approved settlement
Macedos Construction was inspected at a construction site in Dover, New Jersey in October 1996. OSHA issued a serious citation alleging violations of five construction standards covering fall protection, concrete and masonry work, stairways, and ladders. Macedos contested the citation, and the case…
Sentrale Contracting Corp.
Repeat trench cave-in and spoil-pile violations affirmed
Sentrale Contracting was doing utility excavation at a conference center site in Armonk, New York. During a September 1996 inspection, an OSHA compliance officer found an employee working in a trench area that measured about 6.5 feet deep, with walls sloped far steeper than the 45 degrees allowed…
Scandia Packaging Machinery Company
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation stands
Scandia Packaging Machinery Company received an OSHA citation on December 20, 1996, giving it until January 14, 1997 to file a notice of contest. The company did not object until April 3, 1997, when it wrote asking for an informal conference, so its contest was months late and the citation had…
C.W. Sprenger
Tag-line violation affirmed after one item settled
C.W. Sprenger erected a multi-story building in Maplewood, New Jersey. The parties settled item 1, and the judge approved that agreement without reproducing its terms. The remaining item alleged that a steel beam was hoisted near two connectors working about 30 feet high without a tag line to…
L.M.A. Construction Corp.
Fire-protection violations affirmed after fatal store fire
L.M.A. Construction Corp. was the general contractor renovating a church building that also contained retail space in Manhattan. OSHA inspected after an arsonist set fire to a clothing store in the building and blocked its exit; seven store employees died from smoke inhalation. The building's…
Trine Construction Corp.
Repeat unprotected-excavation citation affirmed at a water main project
Trine Construction Corp. was the contractor on a 3-mile water main project for the City of Wheeling, Illinois. During a January 1997 inspection, an OSHA compliance officer found an excavation 8 to 9 feet deep with essentially vertical walls and no cave-in protection. Witnesses said a Trine employee…
Tireman's Tire Shop, Inc.
Unguarded repair pit and open breaker panels affirmed as serious
Tireman's Tire Shop, Inc. ran an auto tire and repair shop in New York. After an employee complaint, OSHA inspected in December 1996 and, while finding none of the complained-of conditions, cited two hazards in plain view. The first was a 40-foot-long, 5.5-foot-deep repair pit that was unguarded…
Williams & Sons Erectors, LLC
Fall protection and training violations affirmed
Williams & Sons Erectors performed steel erection at a three-story construction site in New York. OSHA observed one ironworker welding on a second-level beam and another sitting on a roof-level column without fall protection. The judge credited the compliance officer's testimony that the employees…
Riccon Construction Corp.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation stands
Riccon Construction Corp., a New York construction company, was cited by OSHA in a February 1996 citation that its president's 16-year-old daughter received and signed for. An employer has 15 working days to file a notice of contest, but Riccon never filed one with the Secretary and instead sent a…
National Acoustics, Inc.
Housekeeping citation tossed, but electrical-hazard citations upheld against a demolition subcontractor
National Acoustics was a demolition and cleanup subcontractor on a hotel renovation in Chicago. OSHA inspected in August 1996 and issued a serious citation with three items: one for scrap lumber with protruding nails and other debris on the floor, and two for letting employees work close to live…
CF Motorfreight, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citations become final
CF Motorfreight, a trucking company, was cited by OSHA after an inspection of its Richfield, Ohio terminal. An employer has 15 working days from receiving a citation to file a notice of contest, and if it misses that deadline the citation and penalties become a final Commission order automatically…
John Carter d/b/a J.B.'s Tree Service
Tree-work citations affirmed with $6,500 in penalties
John Carter directed workers removing branches from a large oak tree at a private residence. Two workers were struck by falling limbs, and one died three days later. OSHA cited Carter for exposing employees to falling limbs without adequate warnings and safeguards, and for failing to report the…
Active Fire Sprinkler Corp.
One electrical item withdrawn, cord strain-relief violation affirmed
Active Fire Sprinkler Corp. was installing sprinkler piping at a New York construction site when OSHA inspected in May 1996 and issued a two-item serious electrical citation. At the hearing the company showed that the worker exposed to the condition in Item 1 was not its employee, so the Secretary…
Delta Line Construction Company
Highway barricade violation affirmed
Delta Line Construction placed a utility-truck bucket over an open highway lane while an employee rewired a traffic signal. A tractor-trailer struck the bucket, separating it from the boom, and the employee fell and sustained serious injuries. The judge found that the applicable traffic-control…
M.B. Waterproofing, Inc.
Contest after signed settlement dismissed
OSHA issued M.B. Waterproofing a three-item serious citation and a six-item other-than-serious citation. The company's manager negotiated and signed an informal settlement that reduced the penalties and expressly waived the right to contest. The company later arranged an installment plan but did…
M.B. Construction Company
Nine-month-late contest dismissed
OSHA issued M.B. Construction a serious citation with ten items after inspecting a construction site. The company received the citation in July 1995 but did not file its notice of contest until May 1996, nine months after the statutory deadline. The judge rejected the company's claim that OSHA…
A.M.C.C. Corporation, Inc.
Willful excavation violation affirmed
A.M.C.C. employees worked in a detention-tank excavation with an inadequately sloped wall and a large spoil pile at the edge. Project representatives repeatedly warned the superintendent, issued a stop-work order, and contacted company management, but employees resumed work before adequate…
Northern Energy, Inc.
Late contest caused by vacation dismissed
Northern Energy received an OSHA citation on December 12, 1996, and had until January 6, 1997, to contest it. The company sent its contest letter on January 8 after the official responsible for OSHA matters returned from a scheduled vacation. The judge found no improper conduct by OSHA and no…
Bedlam Brass Corporation
Repair letter did not preserve contest rights
Bedlam Brass received OSHA citations on July 22, 1996, and had until August 12 to file a notice of contest. Its August 22 letter listed repairs the company had made but did not say that it contested the citations or penalties. The judge found that the citation and accompanying booklet clearly…
Turner Construction Co.
Citation vacated as a sanction for the Secretary's repeated failure to file a complaint on time
OSHA issued a citation to Turner Construction Co. on September 26, 1996. Instead of filing its complaint on time, the Secretary of Labor asked the judge for extensions three separate times, each time to "more fully analyze the issues." Chief Judge Irving Sommer had granted the first two requests…
Sebco, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation stands
Sebco, Inc., a general contracting and construction management firm, received an OSHA citation and proposed penalties by certified mail on May 15, 1996. Employers have 15 working days to file a notice of contest, or the citation becomes a final order automatically. Sebco did not respond until July…
Tri-State Steel Construction, Inc., and National Engineering & Contracting Company
Attorney-fee applications denied
This order resolves a request for legal fees after two consolidated OSHA cases arising from a highway bridge rehabilitation project in Cincinnati, Ohio. Tri-State Steel Construction, a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Engineering & Contracting Company (NEC), had prevailed on several citation…
Naporano Iron & Metal Company
Scrap-loading crane cited for no load indicating device and unguarded swing radius, both items affirmed
Naporano ran a scrap metal terminal at Port Newark, New Jersey, where barge-mounted cranes loaded scrap onto vessels and occasionally unloaded steel rails. After an inspection, OSHA cited two serious violations of the longshoring crane standard: no load indicating device on either crane, 29 C.F.R…
Herzog Food, Inc.
Late contest dismissed for lack of excusable neglect
Herzog received OSHA's citation and proposed penalty on December 18, 1995, making its notice of contest due January 10, 1996. Its attorney did not send a protest until January 18. Herzog blamed snow emergencies, but the record showed that the owner and insurance representatives received, read, and…
Jim Smith Body Shop Wrecker Serv.
Unmailed protest did not preserve contest rights
Jim Smith Body Shop received OSHA's citations and proposed penalties on January 25, 1996, making its notice of contest due February 15. The owner began a protest letter dated February 7, but the postage meter was dated February 16 and the letter did not reach the Little Rock post office until…
Lu Mar Enterprises
Settlement of excavation citations approved
OSHA issued Lu Mar two citations alleging serious and willful excavation-related violations at a New Jersey worksite. After hearings on three dates, the parties reached a settlement and placed its terms on the record. The judge approved and incorporated the stipulated settlement in full. The…
Sloan Steel Erectors and Equipment Rental, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation affirmed by operation of law
Sloan Steel Erectors and Equipment Rental received an OSHA citation and proposed penalty by certified mail on September 26, 1995. Under the OSH Act an employer has 15 working days to file a written notice of contest, which set Sloan's deadline at October 18, 1995. The parties held an informal…
New Jersey Monument Co.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation affirmed by operation of law
New Jersey Monument Co. is a very small company with one shop employee. OSHA issued it a citation and proposed penalty by certified mail on June 16, 1995, received June 19, which set a July 11, 1995 deadline to file a written notice of contest. The company did not file on time. It later wrote to…
What these documents are
- Commission decisions: Rulings by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission itself, the highest level of agency review. These are citable as Commission precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by OSHRC Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official OSHRC public release, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.