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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West Valley Construction Company, Inc.
Two trench items affirmed and three vacated
West Valley Construction employees briefly entered a six-foot-deep trench at a naval air station in Washington while their superintendent watched. The trench had vertical walls in disturbed Type C soil and no cave-in protective system. The judge affirmed a repeat cave-in-protection violation…
Austin Bridge and Road, L.P.
Crane crushing citation vacated for lack of hazard recognition
An Austin Bridge crew installed concrete traffic barriers using a truck crane parked close behind a flatbed trailer. The crane carrier was inadvertently left in reverse and moved backward, fatally crushing one employee and injuring another. OSHA alleged that employees should have been kept out of…
D-J's Well Service and Roustabout, Inc.
Pump-jack citation vacated because another company controlled the crew
A crew supplied by D-J's was re-leveling an oil-field pump jack when the unit tipped over and fatally crushed a worker. The parties agreed that the work method presented a recognized hazard with feasible means of abatement. The disputed issue was whether the exposed workers were employees of D-J's…
Jalco, Inc.
Confined-space rescue failures result in $11,800 penalty
A subcontractor employee lost consciousness after entering a 15-foot sewer manhole without atmospheric monitoring, effective ventilation, or rescue equipment. Jalco's foreman entered without a harness, lifeline, or respirator and became dizzy before climbing out. The judge found that the foreman's…
EMS Construction, Inc.
Low-slope roof fall violation affirmed
EMS employees placed sheet metal on a curved roof between about 9 and 18 feet above the ground. An OSHA compliance officer observed two employees working without fall protection, including one who came within one or two feet of the eave. The judge credited the officer over the foreman, who could…
Pegasus Tower, Inc.
Tower hoisting and hard-hat violations affirmed
Pegasus Tower was constructing a communications tower in Wisconsin when OSHA observed an employee riding a hoist line while conduit was lifted at the same time. The judge found that this practice violated the general duty clause because the tower industry recognized the fall hazard and employees…
August Winter & Sons, Inc.
Falling-load citation vacated
August Winter & Sons was installing drainage tile at a Wisconsin construction project when OSHA cited the company for allegedly allowing an employee beneath a loaded excavator bucket. The compliance officer observed from about 35 feet away and 10 feet above the employee, while the employee and…
HWS Consulting Group, Inc.
Reflective-vest citation vacated
An HWS employee performing road-survey work was struck and killed by a backing dump truck while measuring the crown of a milled street without a reflective vest. OSHA cited the construction personal-protective-equipment standard and later alleged a general duty clause violation in the alternative…
Southern Foods, d/b/a Meadow Gold Dairies
Most lockout and guarding items vacated after trimmer injury
A Meadow Gold Dairies employee lost a finger while clearing a jam from a milk-jug trimmer after employees propped its reset button in the on position. The judge vacated a lockout-procedure item because the company's written procedures addressed the hazardous energy sources identified for the…
R. Williams Construction Company
Five trench-safety violations affirmed
Two employees entered a waterlogged, unshored sewer trench to clean pumps, and the trench collapsed, killing one employee and severely injuring the other. The judge found that R. Williams provided almost no trench-safety training, lacked a safe egress route, and used supervisors who were not…
Marine Propulsion Services, Inc.
Lathe item affirmed, milling-machine item vacated
Marine Propulsion Services operated a mobile machine shop at a Portland ship-repair site. The judge found that an unguarded lathe chuck exposed the machinist to rotating jaws and surfaces that could catch clothing, rags, hair, or fingers, and that an available transparent barrier guard was…
American Steel Erectors
Lifeline abrasion item affirmed, training item vacated
American Steel Erectors was installing roof decking at the Omaha Convention Center when an employee fell through an opening and his retractable lifeline abraded against an unprotected steel beam and broke. The employee fell 47 feet to the ground. The judge affirmed the lifeline-protection item…
Lakeland Enterprises of Rhinelander, Inc.
Willful trench violation and $50,200 affirmed
A Lakeland employee worked at the bottom of an 18-foot excavation without a ladder or cave-in protection while a part-owner continued operating a backhoe nearby. The judge found that the trench walls were inadequately sloped in Type C soil with pockets of Type B soil and that loose soil was visibly…
Rawson Contractors, Inc.
Undermined-pavement violation affirmed
Rawson Contractors allowed employees to work on and below pavement that had been undermined by a sewer excavation, with part of an excavator resting near the unsupported area. The judge held that the cited standard presumes a hazard when pavement is undermined without support or other protection…
Advanta USA, Inc.
Field sanitation violations yield $3,100 penalty
Advanta used contract crews to detassel seed corn but did not consistently provide enough single-use drinking cups. Toilet and handwashing facilities were also more than one-quarter mile from workers in several fields. The judge rejected Advanta's terrain and infeasibility arguments because…
JFK Builders
Floor-opening fall violation affirmed
JFK Builders assigned two employees to clear snow and ice around a large floor opening so guardrails could be installed. Neither employee used fall protection, and one fell at least 10 feet to the basement floor and sustained serious injuries. JFK argued that protection was infeasible during the…
Evelyn D. Komes d/b/a Economy Roofing and Sheet Metal, and its successors
Roof fall violation affirmed with $5,000 penalty
Economy Roofing employees worked on a 30-foot-high flat roof without guardrails, warning lines, a safety monitor, or personal fall arrest equipment. OSHA observed one employee kneeling within three feet of the edge. Economy did not appear at the hearing, and the Secretary established a prima facie…
Keystone Structural Concrete Ltd., and its successors
Settlement withdrew both electrical items
The judge had vacated Keystone Structural Concrete's notice of contest after its attorney failed to timely execute a settlement and respond to an order to show cause. On reconsideration, the judge restored the contest because settlement is encouraged and the client should not bear the attorney's…
Simkins-Hallin Lumber Company
General duty citation vacated for a forklift-stacking practice the industry did not recognize as hazardous
Simkins-Hallin runs a lumberyard in Bozeman, Montana. After an employee was killed in a forklift stacking operation, OSHA inspected and issued citations, the main one under the general duty clause for letting forklift operators climb onto the machine's fenders to slide spacer boards ("stickers")…
North Dallas Acrylic & Stucco, Inc., and its successors
Scaffold footing citation vacated, ladder-access and fall-protection citations affirmed
North Dallas Acrylic & Stucco was applying stucco from a three-tier scaffold at a WalMart construction site in Keller, Texas, when an OSHA officer inspected and cited three scaffold violations. One item claimed the scaffold legs lacked base plates and mud sills; the judge credited the crew leader's…
Quebecor World - Salem Division, and its successors
Lockout/tagout citations vacated for a plastic-wrapping machine
Quebecor World ran a commercial printing plant in Salem, Illinois. After an inspection of its bindery, OSHA issued three serious lockout/tagout citations tied to the Spiral Grip 8150 Strapper/Wrapper machine, faulting the company for not providing lockout hardware, not training operators in energy…
G&K Services, and its successors
Training and guard-removal citations affirmed after a commercial dryer amputation
G&K Services ran a commercial laundry in San Antonio, Texas. A worker reaching into an uncovered inspection port on a large Smith Grantham dryer had his arm pulled into the rotating basket and amputated. OSHA issued three serious citations. The judge vacated the general machine-guarding item…
Midwest Generation, LLC, and its successors
Sling and hoist violations affirmed, other items vacated
Midwest employees helped a contractor hoist 25-foot wooden I-joists inside a power plant using a pneumatic winch and nylon sling. A joist slipped from the sling, fell down the hoist bay, and struck and killed the employee signaling the winch operator. The judge affirmed three sling violations…
Jalco, Inc., and its successors
Three trench-safety citations upheld as violations but each downgraded in severity
Jalco is a utility contractor that was installing a 42-inch water line in Edinburg, Texas. OSHA inspected the trench work and issued three excavation citations: the trench box did not extend 18 inches above the vertical trench wall, the trench floor was dug too far below the bottom of the box, and…
Key Energy Services, Inc., and its successors
Vacuum-truck venting hazard affirmed, three other items vacated
Key Energy Services was servicing an oil well at the Garcia Lease when a vacuum-truck cargo tank exploded and a worker was fatally struck by flying parts. The judge found that Key should have recognized the fire and explosion hazard created by venting flammable crude-oil vapors beneath the truck…
Trinity Industries, Inc. -- Plant 22, and its successors
Steel-tank storage citations vacated
Trinity Industries manufactured large steel tanks at its Fort Worth, Texas, plant and stored partly finished tanks close together on wooden supports and chocks between production steps. During lifting, one tank caught and raised the tank in front of it, dislodging a chock and causing that tank to…
Dayton Hudson Corp.
Roofing and acetone violations affirmed with reduced penalties
Dayton Hudson employees performed roofing work on a flat roof in West Allis, Wisconsin, about 28 feet above the next level. The company admitted that employees did not use available harnesses and that its warning-line system was incomplete, too loose, too close to the roof edge, and missing around…
A. Hansen Masonry, Inc.
Repeat scaffold violation affirmed, forklift item vacated
A. Hansen Masonry performed construction work in San Antonio, Texas. OSHA observed an employee making repeated trips on a twelve-foot scaffold whose southwest corner lacked guardrails, and the employee used no other fall protection. The judge found employer knowledge because the foreman knew the…
LeTourneau, Inc., and its successors
Deck-opening violations vacated for lack of employer knowledge after a fatal fall
LeTourneau built ships at Sabine Pass, Texas, including a Gorilla V jack-up offshore oil rig. In September 1998, a LeTourneau engineer, Paul Dew, fell about 90 feet to his death from an unguarded derrick platform while inspecting the area for upcoming piping work. OSHA cited LeTourneau for two…
Montana Power Company
Roof-edge violation affirmed with penalty reduced to $1,000
Montana Power was upgrading electrical service at a Missoula motel when an employee worked on the roof about 22 feet above the ground without a lanyard, guardrail, or safety net. The company argued that working from its aerial-lift basket was infeasible because the motel's weather heads faced…
Otis Elevator, Inc.
Elevator-platform fall violation reduced from repeated to serious
Four Otis Elevator employees, including the Montana territory manager, rode an unguarded elevator platform at a hotel project without tying off, exposing them to a fall of as much as 112 feet. Otis had detailed fall-protection rules, training, audits, and progressive discipline, but all four…
Seyforth Roofing Co., Inc.
Propane-tank traffic violation affirmed with penalty reduced
Seyforth Roofing used a 250-gallon propane tank to heat a tar kettle while a large forklift repeatedly passed within several feet of the tank. Caution tape had been installed earlier but Seyforth's kettleman allowed another trade to remove it and relied on verbal warnings to the forklift driver…
Patterson Drilling Co. Rig #4
Rig-floor guarding and emergency washing violations affirmed
OSHA cited Patterson Drilling for inadequate guarding at a rig-floor opening and inadequate emergency washing facilities where employees handled caustic soda. The opening was protected only by a sagging chain without a midrail, exposing employees to a 20-foot fall. Judge James H. Barkley found that…
Dillard Texas Operating Limited Partnership, and its successors
Floor and emergency-preparedness items affirmed
OSHA cited a Dillard's store for damaged floors and walls, locked or poorly fitting exits, emergency-planning deficiencies, inadequate fire-extinguisher training, machine guarding, and electrical conditions. Judge James H. Barkley affirmed an other-than-serious passageway violation because…
Dillard Department Store, Inc. d/b/a Dillard's, and its successors
Emergency-plan and delayed-exit sign items affirmed
Dillard's locked several customary store exits outside business hours, leaving two available exits more than 450 feet from some work areas. OSHA issued overlapping items requiring unlocked egress and procedures for opening the doors during an emergency. Judge James H. Barkley vacated the…
Dover Elevator Company
Access and fall-protection citations vacated
Dover Elevator Company was installing elevators in an addition to a federal courthouse and post office in Victoria, Texas. OSHA cited floor holes, inadequate guardrails, improper elevated access, and portable ladders at the site. Because the citation and complaint alleged violations only on the…
High End Systems, Inc.
Consultant's missed deadline did not excuse late contest
High End Systems hired a safety consultant to represent it during an OSHA inspection. The consultant received the citation, advised High End to contest it, knew the June 3 deadline, and prepared a notice of contest, but neither party sent the notice. Judge James H. Barkley found that the consultant…
Dawson Production Services
Rig-guying citation affirmed, anchor-capacity citation vacated after a fatal rig collapse
Dawson Production Services operated a well-servicing rig at a site in Chambers County, Texas. OSHA inspected after a fatality caused by a drill rig collapse and issued two general duty clause citations tied to how the rig was guyed and anchored. On the first item, the evidence showed the company…
Engineered Construction Systems, Inc.
General contractor liable for subcontractor fall hazards
Engineered Construction Systems was the general contractor for a quick-lube building project in Colorado. OSHA observed masonry employees working on scaffolds more than 10 feet high without guardrails and workers near unguarded floor pits almost eight feet deep. The judge held the general…
Commercial Wall, Inc.
Willful fall violation affirmed at one motel site
Commercial Wall, Inc. supplied framing crews for motel projects in Galesburg and Knoxville, Illinois. At the Galesburg site, the judge found Commercial was the employer because it held the framing contract, paid the workers, covered workers' compensation, and retained the right to control the work…
Parsons Company, Inc.
Two guarding violations reduced from willful to serious
Parsons Company, Inc. used a metal shear with a finger guard that could move out of alignment and a press brake with no point-of-operation guard. An employee reached beneath the shear guard after scrap slipped and lost the tips of six fingers when he accidentally activated the machine. The judge…
Jerry Bennett Masonry Contractor, Inc.
Scaffold and chemical-safety violations affirmed
Three Jerry Bennett Masonry employees fell 30 to 35 feet when the outriggers supporting a suspended scaffold slipped from beneath their counterweights. The judge found that the person assigned to erect the scaffold lacked the training and knowledge required of a competent person. Required tiebacks…
James Construction
Controlling employer liable for subcontractor hazards
James Construction supervised a siding subcontractor and controlled its work approval and payment. The judge held that James could not ignore repeated safety violations merely because stronger enforcement might delay the job or reduce profits. Serious items involving eye protection, unguarded…
Peck and Hiller Company
Loose concrete-form guardrail affirmed serious, penalty cut to $450
Peck and Hiller was the concrete form-shoring subcontractor on a Navy bachelor enlisted quarters project at the Everett Naval Station in Washington. Responding to an employee complaint, an OSHA compliance officer inspected the site and found that a wire-rope guardrail Peck had installed on the…
Keith Rasmussen & Sons Construction
Scaffold and fall-protection citations mostly upheld, but penalties cut sharply for a four-worker employer
Keith Rasmussen & Sons Construction, a four-worker builder in Ouray, Colorado, was inspected by OSHA in April 1994 at a jobsite on Main Street. OSHA issued five citation items covering scaffold access, scaffold footing, guardrails, an unguarded second-floor edge, and the lack of a written safety…
DCS Sanitation Management, Inc.
Willful lockout violations affirmed after fatal cleaning incident
DCS Sanitation Management cleaned operating meat-processing equipment at an IBP plant in Nebraska. OSHA cited five willful lockout/tagout violations after an employee was killed while cleaning a running loin saddle table. Administrative Law Judge James H. Barkley found that supervisors knew…
CEI West Roofing Co., Inc.
Hard-hat and traffic-sign items affirmed
CEI West Roofing Co., Inc. was cited at a Colorado roofing project where employees unloaded materials near traffic and worked on an unguarded roof. Administrative Law Judge James H. Barkley affirmed the hard-hat item because employee statements and the crew's conduct showed a practice that CEI's…
Donald W. Thompson, Inc.
Three serious items affirmed, $275 assessed
Donald W. Thompson, Inc. contested two OSHA citations and went to a hearing. Before evidence was taken, the Secretary withdrew Item 1 of the serious citation. The judge affirmed the three remaining serious items, finding that unguarded rebar and contact with a radial-saw blade could cause serious…
ASARCO, Inc.
Medical-removal benefit violation affirmed, $2,125 assessed
ASARCO operated a primary lead refinery in Omaha, Nebraska. Maintenance welder Michael Dougherty was medically removed to lower-exposure areas and then was not considered for an open mason position solely because that job involved work above OSHA's lead action level. The judge held that Dougherty's…
Armstrong Steel Erectors, Inc.
Bridge steel-erection fall-protection violation affirmed serious, $2,500
Armstrong Steel Erectors was erecting steel on an I-71 bridge overpass in Cleveland, Ohio, when OSHA inspected in August 1993 and cited it for a serious fall-protection violation. Compliance officers videotaped ironworkers moving across unguarded girders more than 25 feet up without using the…
The Ruhlin Company
Bridge fall-protection and inspection items vacated, unguarded rebar affirmed
Ruhlin Company was the general contractor building the South Avenue bridge in Youngstown, Ohio. After a 1993 inspection, OSHA cited Ruhlin for three items tied to the work of its steel subcontractor: no fall protection for ironworkers walking the girders, a failure to run frequent and regular…
Nelson Tree Services, Inc.
Tree-felling hazard violation affirmed after fatal incident
Nelson Tree Services cleared trees around utility lines at a worksite in Hanoverton, Ohio. A leaning tree fell prematurely while a Nelson employee passed through the work area, fatally injuring the employee. The judge found that the tree-care industry and Nelson's own safety manual recognized the…
Allstate Roofing, Inc.
Willful roof-fall violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Allstate Roofing had about five employees working on a nearly flat roof that measured 200 by 120 feet and was 20 feet above the ground. OSHA observed employees without the fall protection required for built-up roofing work, including one worker who came within about three feet of an unguarded edge…
B & M Roofing
Two serious-item penalties totaling $2,250 assessed
B & M Roofing of Colorado contested OSHA citations and proposed penalties, then proceeded to a hearing on July 27, 1993. The ALJ entered findings of fact and conclusions of law on the hearing record, but the released written decision does not describe the cited conditions or identify the standards…
Ludvik Electric
Unguarded platform citation dismissed under multi-employer defense
A Ludvik Electric employee fell to his death from an unguarded equipment-support deck at a Colorado construction site. The judge found that the deck was a covered work platform and that Ludvik could have anticipated employee use of it. Ludvik did not create or control the missing guardrails because…
Abbott Contractors, Inc.
Two willful trench cave-in violations affirmed, penalty reduced to $40,000
Abbott Contractors, Inc. installs water mains and was working in Aurora, Illinois. In July and August 1991, OSHA inspected two of its trenching worksites. Before the hearing the parties settled all items except two willful excavation items, which alleged that employees worked in trenches about 9 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.