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.
No decisions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Mallard Bay Drilling, Inc., LLC
OSHA jurisdiction upheld over emergency response on drilling barge
A natural-gas explosion on Mallard Bay Drilling's stationary drilling barge killed and seriously injured employees and destroyed the rig. OSHA cited delayed evacuation, the lack of an emergency response plan, and inadequate emergency-response training. The company argued that Coast Guard authority…
Jensen Road Company
Crane boom-tip scaffold citation vacated
Jensen Road Company used a scaffold attached to a crawler crane boom to position employees beneath a bridge deck while they removed plywood forms. OSHA alleged that this use violated the crane manufacturer's specifications and limitations. The manufacturer's notices warned that the crane was not…
Turnbull Metal Products, Inc.
Press and facility violations produce $9,450 penalty
Turnbull Metal Products manufactured metal furniture and other products at a Mississippi facility using press brakes and mechanical power presses. OSHA cited missing platform and stair midrails, an inadequate lockout program, unguarded machine parts, deficient press inspections, and electrical…
The Fishel Company
Willful trench citations vacated for employee misconduct
A Fishel Company crew leader entered an unshored Type C trench more than five feet deep while a spoil pile and backhoe were close to the edge. As crew leader and competent person, his knowledge of the conditions was imputable to Fishel. Judge Ken S. Welsch nevertheless found unpreventable employee…
Scarff's Nursery, Inc.
Trench cave-in violation affirmed under general duty clause
Scarff's Nursery employees installed irrigation pipe in a narrow trench about 6.5 feet deep when a cave-in injured two workers. The agriculture standards contained no trench-safety provision, so OSHA proceeded under the general duty clause. Judge Ken S. Welsch found no proof that the nursery…
Cumbie Concrete Company, Inc.
Carbon-monoxide and respirator violations yield $7,800
Cumbie Concrete employees cut holes in a library floor with a propane-powered saw inside a room sealed with plastic sheeting. Three employees developed carbon-monoxide poisoning and received hospital treatment. Judge Ken S. Welsch affirmed violations for lacking a propane safety data sheet and…
Reliance Environmental Management, Inc.
Asbestos violations affirmed but willful classification rejected
Reliance Environmental Management removed asbestos during renovation of an abandoned department store in Toledo, Ohio. OSHA cited monitoring, training, wet-method, work-practice, decontamination, and shower violations. The judge rejected the company's challenges to the inspection and its…
R.K. Construction & Development Co.
All five demolition-site citations affirmed with penalties reduced to $4,250
R.K. Construction & Development Co. is a small family-owned demolition and building restoration contractor in Savannah, Georgia. While the company was tearing down a three-story building, an OSHA compliance officer driving by saw employees on a scaffold about 25 feet up and stopped to inspect. OSHA…
Geo. Gradel Company
Training violation affirmed after a backhoe punctured a gas line
Geo. Gradel Company was an excavation contractor replacing a sewer line during a road-widening project in Ohio. A backhoe operator punctured an eight-inch high-pressure gas line where the sewer crossed it. The judge affirmed a serious training violation because Gradel had only told workers to be…
Stone-Circle Underground, Inc.
Trackhoe bucket violation affirmed, spoil-pile and cave-in items vacated
Stone-Circle Underground builds underground drainage fields in the Fort Lauderdale area. During an August 1997 inspection of a French drain job in a bank parking lot, OSHA issued three excavation citations: employees working under a trackhoe bucket, a spoil pile stacked at the trench edge, and a…
Malouf Construction Corporation
Excavation inspection citation vacated
Malouf Construction Corporation was the general contractor for a large office complex in Clinton, Mississippi. A plumbing subcontractor dug a six-foot excavation and allowed employees to enter without an inspection by a competent person. The judge found that the inspection requirement was violated…
Concrete Metal Forms, Inc.
Formwork violations affirmed after deck collapse
Concrete Metal Forms, Inc. designed and erected formwork for a new county jail in Alabama. During the third-level concrete pour, the deck collapsed and 22 employees were injured. CMF argued that the general contractor caused the collapse by directing an uneven pour despite CMF's warning. The judge…
Southeast Steel Erectors, Inc.
Contest dismissed after company stopped responding
OSHA cited Southeast Steel Erectors, Inc. for an unguarded roof deck and a portable ladder that did not extend three feet above its landing. After filing a notice of contest, the company reported that it had dissolved and then stopped responding. It did not provide a current address or telephone…
Ohio Cellular Products Corp.
Machine-guarding citation affirmed after fatal rotating-arm accident
Ohio Cellular Products Corp. molds polyethylene foam sports and automotive padding at a plant in Wauseon, Ohio, using large rotating "Rotocast" ovens. In October 1996 a relief operator was fatally injured when her clothing caught on an oven's rotating mold arm while she unloaded foam. OSHA cited…
Shoney's, Inc., d/b/a Captain D's
Kitchen receptacle citation vacated
Shoney's operated a Captain D's restaurant where employees cleaned the tiled kitchen floor daily with soapy and clean water. OSHA cited an electrical receptacle behind two fish fryers as unsuitable for a damp location under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.305(j)(2)(ii). The judge held that the standard was not…
V & W Construction & Service Co.
Trench violation affirmed with reduced penalty
V & W Construction was replacing an underground oil-water separator at a National Guard base. After the company removed the trench shoring, employees entered the nine-foot-deep excavation even though soil was sloughing from the walls and no protective system remained. The judge rejected claims that…
Traylor Brothers, Inc.
Unsecured fall-arrest anchorage violation affirmed
Traylor Brothers was the general contractor on a bridge project where a subcontractor's employee attached his safety lanyard to a suspended track during form-setting work. The track slipped from its clamp, fell from the bridge, and pulled the employee into the river, where he drowned. The judge…
R. P. Carbone Construction Co.
General contractor liable for subcontractor's exposed fall hazard
R. P. Carbone Construction Company was the general contractor on a recreation-center project in Cleveland, Ohio, and subcontracted the steel erection to CommSteel. During a July 1996 inspection prompted by a complaint, an OSHA compliance officer saw two CommSteel ironworkers installing bridging…
Sunshine Guardrail Service
Advance traffic signs required for roadside work
Sunshine replaced guardrail posts beside four lanes of Florida Turnpike traffic after the general contractor failed to place the required advance construction signs. The crew used cones, safety vests, truck warning lights, and the guardrail area, but those measures did not warn motorists in…
Peterson Construction Co.
Unsecured decking and floor-hole items affirmed
A carpenter loosened a sheet of second-floor plywood decking to remove column formwork, leaving an opening and an unstable walking surface 21 feet above the lower level. When he stepped on the loose sheet, it lifted and he fell through the opening onto reinforcing steel, causing serious injuries…
Superior Tank and Trailer Co.
Press-brake item affirmed, three other items vacated
Superior repaired commercial tanks and trailers that had carried products ranging from food to gasoline and acids. The judge found that its contractor washouts, supervisor checks, atmospheric testing, periodic retesting, and forced-air ventilation adequately evaluated the units and prevented them…
North Florida Shipyards, Inc.
Aerial-lift citations vacated
Two North Florida Shipyards employees used an aerial lift to move steel plates onto a barge, overloaded the basket, and did not tie off. The lift tilted and then righted itself, throwing one employee from the basket; he died from his injuries later that day. OSHA issued five serious citation items…
The Timken Company
Confined-space training violation affirmed but cut from willful to serious, penalty reduced to $3,000
The Timken Company makes tapered roller bearings and employs about 1,000 workers at its Canton, Ohio bearing plant. After an OSHA inspection, Timken was cited for confined-space violations in a heat-treat department where two vertical pit furnace areas were designated permit-required confined…
Harbert-Yeargin, Inc.
Seven electrical and scaffold items affirmed serious, four vacated, $4,500
Harbert-Yeargin was the general contractor building a cogeneration power plant in Fort Myers, Florida, that would turn municipal solid waste into steam and electricity for Lee County. While inspecting the site over another contractor in June 1994, an OSHA compliance officer also cited…
Alabama River Pulp Co., Inc.
Floor-opening, manlift, and lockout/tagout violations affirmed, penalties reduced to $1,000
Alabama River Pulp runs a large pulp mill in Perdue Hill, Alabama. During the plant's annual maintenance outage in April 1995, a subcontractor employee fell at a manlift in the digester building and died; the parties stipulated that the death was not caused by any of the violations later cited…
A & B Tops
Three serious items downgraded to "other," one grounding item affirmed serious, $300
A & B Tops is a very small Ohio sole proprietorship, with one or two employees, that makes and installs kitchen countertops. After an employee complaint, OSHA got an inspection warrant, entered the Akron plant, and issued four serious citations: no exit sign on the assembly-room doors, an unguarded…
Well-Tech, Inc.
Removed platform guardrail and missing site records produced $2,850 in penalties
Well-Tech, Inc. was a well-servicing contractor replugging and sampling wells at a chemical plant in Barberton, Ohio. Employees removed an eight-foot section of guardrail from a 16-foot-high drilling platform and placed caution tape across the opening; within about 15 minutes, an employee fell…
Whitacre Engineering Co.
Unguarded runway and exposed rebar produce $4,125
Whitacre Engineering Co. installed reinforcing steel for a steel-mill foundation project in Mansfield, Ohio. Employees crossed a 28-inch-wide aluminum runway that lacked a guardrail on one side, and Whitacre neither asked the general contractor to correct it nor used alternative protection. The…
Valley Construction Company
$750 awarded for unjustified material-safety-data-sheet item
Valley Construction Company sought attorney, consultant, and other expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act after settling OSHA citations arising from an employee's fatal electrocution. The settlement withdrew three items, reclassified two, and reduced two penalties. The judge found Valley 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.