Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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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…
Design Decorators, Inc.
Aerial-lift violations affirmed as willful, penalties reduced
Design Decorators, Inc. is a small, highly seasonal Pennsylvania company that installs and maintains public Christmas decorations using a truck-mounted aerial lift. In November 1995 a 22-year-old employee riding in the raised bucket was fatally injured when the truck drove under an underpass with…
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…
Lazarus, Inc.
In re Lazarus, Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 95-2): PCB penalty affirmed after PRA and limitations rulings
EPA Region V charged Lazarus, Inc. after a 1992 inspection of two PCB transformers at the company's department store annex in Columbus, Ohio. The alleged violations concerned transformer registration, warning labels, inspection records, PCB annual documents, and spill cleanup. The Environmental…
National Engineering and Contracting Company
Boom-truck violation restored to willful
National Engineering and Contracting Company was building a highway sound wall and used a boom truck to place concrete traffic barriers. The truck tipped while a barrier was being moved without its front outriggers and rear stabilizers fully extended, killing one employee and seriously injuring…
Thunder Basin Coal Company
Remand assessment sets $13,350 in penalties
Thunder Basin Coal Company was cited for refusing to post two United Mine Workers officials as miners' representatives and for failing to abate the resulting citation. The ALJ found the underlying violation non-serious and assessed a $350 penalty, while finding high negligence and no good-faith…
Teddy Bear, Inc.
Discrimination case settled with back pay and $3,000 penalty
Teddy Bear, Inc. terminated coal miner Billy D. Branham after he made a safety complaint and refused in good faith to work in conditions he reasonably considered unsafe. The parties settled the discrimination proceeding, with Teddy Bear agreeing to pay Branham $2,560 in gross back wages and MSHA a…
Consolidation Coal Company
Discrimination finding affirmed, penalty remanded
Consolidation Coal transferred two long-serving scooter barn mechanics, Richard Glover and Leon Kehrer, to underground mechanic positions after they exercised their rights as miners' representatives to accompany inspectors. The Commission affirmed the finding that the transfers violated the Mine…
AMAX Coal Company
Split Commission leaves unwarrantable-failure finding standing
AMAX Coal Company was cited after a line curtain at its Wabash Mine was left 55 to 60 feet from a working face, although the mine's ventilation plan required it to be within 40 feet. AMAX conceded the violation but contested whether it was significant and substantial and the result of unwarrantable…
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…
Superior Custom Cabinet Company, Inc.
Cabinet-delivery fall citations affirmed
Superior Custom Cabinet Company delivered cabinets to houses under construction. A delivery worker carrying a cabinet upstairs stepped backward from an unguarded second-floor landing and died after the fall. The Commission found Superior's general instruction to avoid unsafe conditions too vague…
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company
Dust-sampling violations affirmed, penalties remanded
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company was cited after MSHA did not receive respirable coal dust samples that the operator was required to submit during bimonthly sampling periods. The Commission affirmed the violations under 30 C.F.R. §§ 70.207(a) and 70.208(a), holding that a sample must be received and…
Fort Scott Fertilizer-Cullor, Inc.
Two $10 penalties reinstated after remand
Fort Scott Fertilizer-Cullor and employee James Cullor were involved in proceedings concerning defective brakes on two haulage trucks. The Commission had reinstated the citations and remanded for analysis of the six penalty criteria after the ALJ initially vacated the citations based on alleged…
Halmar Corp. and DeFoe Corp., a Joint Venture
Power-line crane penalties assessed separately
Halmar Corp. and DeFoe Corp. used a crane to place concrete catch basins along the New York Thruway. While the crane backed about 400 feet with its boom fully extended, the boom contacted an overhead electrical line and an employee was electrocuted. The Commission found that the foreman knew or…
Akzo Salt Company, Inc.
Damages and penalty ordered after discrimination finding
Akzo Salt Company, Inc. was ordered to pay damages after the parties stipulated to the amount owed to complainant James Rieke in a Mine Act discrimination proceeding. Judge Gary Melick ordered Akzo to pay Rieke $2,542.04 in damages and to pay MSHA a $2,000 civil penalty within 30 days. The order…
Johnson Building Corporation
General contractor inspection and training violations affirmed
Johnson Building Corporation was the general contractor for a retail construction project in Canton, Ohio. OSHA observed subcontractor employees working on trusses, scaffolds, and a platform without fall protection, as well as incomplete scaffolding, unsecured ladders, and work without head…
Mobile Premix Concrete, Inc.
Sand hoppers held to be permit-required confined spaces
Mobile Premix Concrete operated below-ground sand and gravel hoppers that fed material onto a conveyor. An employee was buried in a sand hopper and died, and OSHA cited the company for failing to treat the hoppers as permit-required confined spaces. The Commission found that a live hopper limited…
Daniel A. Mickelsen, an Individual, d/b/a M-L Masonry
Unguarded scaffold item affirmed
M-L Masonry removed scaffold guardrails while lowering a work platform about 16 feet above the ground. The judge found that employees on the platform were exposed to a fall hazard and that the guardrail requirement continued to apply during lowering and dismantling unless compliance became…
G-MAC Construction Company, Inc.
Willful scaffold citations reduced to serious, penalties cut sharply
G-MAC Construction Company, Inc. was the stucco subcontractor on a Comfort Inn project in Omaha, Nebraska, and in turn subcontracted the work to Eucardo Molina, whose crew worked from a 40-foot scaffold with no guardrails and climbed the frame to get on it. G-MAC argued Molina was an independent…
McNeilly Logging
Danger-tree and backcut citations affirmed against Montana logger
McNeilly Logging was cutting timber at the Dirty Ike Timber Sale in Montana when OSHA inspected following an accident. A sawyer, Michael Boehm, was seriously injured when a dead standing "snag" toppled and struck him while he was cutting a felled larch; he and a coworker had tested the snag…
Bruschi Brothers, Inc.
Most trenching citations affirmed, one vacated in sewer-line excavation case
Bruschi Brothers, Inc., a general contractor, was installing a sewer line in a roughly 13-to-15-foot-deep trench in Chicopee, Massachusetts, when OSHA inspected and found four employees working in it. OSHA issued several serious citations for failing to train workers on trenching and confined-space…
Norton Crushed Stone
Settlement approved with $22,153 penalty
Norton Crushed Stone and Marvin D. Carlisle faced four Mine Act civil penalty proceedings involving the Norton Development and Tull Pit operations. The parties asked the judge to approve a settlement reducing the total penalties from $48,306 to $22,153. Judge Avram Weisberger found the settlement…
Consolidation Coal Company
Failure-to-abate order vacated after invalid dust sample
Consolidation Coal challenged a withdrawal order issued after MSHA alleged that the operator had not abated a respirable-dust citation at the Robinson Run No. 95 Mine. The underlying citation was based on samples averaging more than the applicable dust limit, and later samples were used to…
Fort Scott Fertilizer - Cullor, Incorporated
Brake findings affirmed and penalties remanded
Fort Scott Fertilizer - Cullor was cited after two haulage trucks were found with defective brakes at its limestone quarry. The Commission affirmed the findings that the violations were not caused by Fort Scott's unwarrantable failure and that James Cullor was not personally liable under the Mine…
Basin Resources, Inc.
Mixed citation results with $25,601 penalty
Basin Resources contested penalties for safety violations at the Golden Eagle Mine, including ventilation, guarding, escapeway, roof-control, and coal-dust conditions. Judge Richard W. Manning vacated one citation, affirmed most of the remaining findings, modified one unwarrantable-failure order to…
Boogar Man Mining, Inc., Dema Coal Company, Inc., A & J Fuels, Inc., Barry Moore, and Freddie Hunter
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Michael D. Brown alleged that he was discharged from work at the No. 1 mine after raising safety concerns about working under unsupported roof. The Secretary of Labor applied for his temporary reinstatement under the Mine Act's discrimination provision. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the…
Midwest Masonry, Inc.
Repeat scaffold access and guardrail citations affirmed, penalties reduced
Midwest Masonry, Inc. was building a masonry wall in Kearney, Nebraska, when an OSHA compliance officer driving past videotaped workers climbing down a scaffold frame and working on an unguarded platform. OSHA issued two repeat citations, one for failing to provide a ladder or equivalent safe…
C & S Erectors, Inc.
Civil case stayed during criminal investigation
OSHA cited C & S Erectors after an employee died in a fall, proposing penalties totaling $396,200. The Department of Justice then opened a criminal investigation of alleged willful violations that caused the death and asked the Secretary to seek a stay of the civil case. The administrative law…
Monadnock Erectors, Inc.
Steel-erection safety-net citation affirmed from the bench
Monadnock Erectors, Inc., a New Hampshire steel erector, was cited for a single serious violation after employees erected steel more than 30 feet above the ground without safety nets. The cited standard requires safety nets when work is more than 25 feet up and ladders, scaffolds, catch platforms…
Tresca Brothers Sand and Gravel, Inc.
Settlement approved after default order vacated
Tresca Brothers Sand and Gravel failed to respond to an earlier show-cause order, and the judge issued a default order directing payment of the proposed penalties. The judge later found that the operator had timely communicated that the matter had settled, so he vacated the default and reopened the…
Tresca Brothers Sand and Gravel, Inc.
Settlement approved after default vacated
Tresca Brothers Sand and Gravel failed to respond to an earlier show-cause order, and the judge issued a default order directing payment of the proposed penalties. The judge later found that the operator had timely communicated that the matter had settled, so he vacated the default and reopened the…
Thunder Basin Coal Company
Penalty assessment vacated and remanded
Thunder Basin Coal Company disputed penalties arising from its refusal to post a notice designating miners' representatives at the Black Thunder Mine. After the ALJ assessed a total penalty of $1,300, the Commission held that the judge had not adequately applied the Mine Act's penalty criteria…
Triple J Construction
Repeat residential fall-protection violations affirmed
Triple J Construction had three workers removing shingles and tar paper from a steep residential roof about 12 feet above the ground without required fall protection. The company also lacked a training program for workers exposed to fall hazards and had previously received final citations for the…
Franklin E. Skepton Contractor, amended to Skepton Contracting Inc.
Hard-hat and LP-gas items affirmed
Skepton was a prime contractor on a middle-school construction project. The judge affirmed a repeat hard-hat violation after the superintendent walked near a moving backhoe without head protection, finding he had access to a possible impact hazard. She vacated an eye-protection item because Skepton…
Guardian Industries Corp.
In re Guardian Industries Corp. (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 97-9 and 97-10): petitions dismissed with prejudice
Citizens' Environmental Coalition and Peter Goodman petitioned for review of a PSD permit issued to Guardian Industries for construction of a flat glass plant in Geneva, New York. The parties engaged in settlement negotiations and reported that all issues had been resolved. The petitioners then…
Shintech, Inc.
In re Shintech, Inc. (EAB PSD Appeal No. 97-11): appeal dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Fourteen organizations petitioned the EAB to review Louisiana's PSD permit for Shintech's proposed polyvinyl chloride production complex in Convent, Louisiana. The Board asked the petitioners to explain why it had jurisdiction, given that Louisiana was an approved state for PSD permitting. The…
Drexel Chemical Co.
Generic safety programs found inadequate
OSHA cited Drexel Chemical's manufacturing plant for permit-space, lockout, and material-storage violations. The Commission vacated the workplace-evaluation item because a qualified manager familiar with the plant had evaluated its spaces, and it vacated the warning-sign item because access was…
Faith Coal Company
Multiple citation rulings affirmed, one issue remanded
Faith Coal Company operated the No. 15 Mine, an underground coal mine in Tennessee. The Commission affirmed findings involving unsupported roof, roof-control-plan violations, and sightline use, and it affirmed that the Secretary could not use a prior probation proceeding to establish the alleged…
Caterpillar, Inc.
Press-guarding violations affirmed as repeat and willful
Caterpillar employees frequently operated a 700-ton hydraulic press with its protective light curtain disabled, exposing them to a point-of-operation pinch hazard. The Commission classified that violation as repeated because an earlier final citation involved a substantially similar descending-ram…
Tri-State Steel Construction Company, Inc.
EAJA fee case referred after court remand
Tri-State Steel Construction sought fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The Commission had aggregated Tri-State's net worth with that of its parent and found the company above the $7 million eligibility limit. The Sixth Circuit reversed that ruling and remanded the matter. The…
Pentecost Contracting Corp.
EAJA fee application denied
Pentecost admitted willful excavation violations but successfully reduced proposed penalties from $105,000 to $42,000 by grouping related items at each trench. It then sought attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The Commission held that success on a significant penalty issue can…
BFW Construction Co.
Subsidiary remains eligible for EAJA fees
BFW Construction sought attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act after prevailing in an OSHRC matter. BFW's own net worth was below the $7 million eligibility ceiling, but its corporate parent exceeded that limit. The Commission decided that future cases should use a clearer rule…
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…
Contour Erection & Siding Systems, Inc.
Crane-overload citation vacated
Contour Erection used a crawler crane to lift a large roof truss at a sports arena when the boom and load collapsed to the floor without injuring anyone. OSHA alleged that the crane exceeded the manufacturer's load limits and cited two duplicative crane standards. The judge found that OSHA relied…
G & C Foundry Company
Commission affirms silica engineering-control and formaldehyde-sampling citations against an iron foundry
G & C Foundry makes iron castings at a plant in Sandusky, Ohio, using induction furnaces that must be relined with silica every two weeks. OSHA measured workers relining the furnaces at up to 24 times the permissible silica dust limit and cited the company for failing to use feasible administrative…
City of Port St. Joe and Florida Coast Paper Company
In re City of Port St. Joe and Florida Coast Paper Company (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 94-8 and 94-9): permit review denied in part and remanded in part
The City of Port St. Joe owned and operated an industrial wastewater treatment plant that received most of its influent from a local pulp and paper mill. The City and Florida Coast Paper Company challenged EPA Region IV's classification of the plant as a publicly owned treatment works and contested…
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…
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…
Bear Erectors, Inc.
Steel-erection fall-protection and training citations all affirmed, $12,000 penalty
Bear Erectors was a steel-erection subcontractor working on an addition to and demolition at an adult nursing facility in Rochester, New York. An OSHA officer driving past saw workers on the high steel without fall protection, videotaped the site, and inspected. OSHA issued a serious citation with…
P. S. Bruckel, Inc.
Bridge-safety citations affirmed with $8,750 in penalties
P. S. Bruckel was an industrial-painting subcontractor on a lift-bridge rehabilitation project. A supervisor and a laborer worked over a canal and around an open counterweight pit while removing scaffold equipment, and the supervisor fell into the pit and died. OSHA cited the company for missing or…
McCarson's Quality Covering
Roofing safety violations affirmed
McCarson's Quality Covering used employees to replace a residential roof near an energized service line. OSHA found that the ladder-jack scaffold was about 12 inches from the unguarded power line, employees had no conventional fall protection on the steep roof, and the employer lacked adequate…
D'Ambra Construction Company, Inc.
Utility-location violation affirmed with reduced penalty
D'Ambra Construction was cited for beginning excavation work without first determining the location of an underground gas line. The judge issued a bench decision after an E-Z Trial hearing. The serious violation was affirmed. The proposed $4,000 penalty was reduced to $1,000.
Esprit Constructors, Inc., C. T. Taylor Company, Inc.
Roller-compactor violations affirmed
Esprit Constructors and C. T. Taylor worked together at a construction site where an Esprit employee was fatally struck by a roller-compactor operated by Taylor's project manager. The judge did not decide whether the manager's lack of qualification caused the death, but found him unqualified…
James Womack, Steven Womack and Kenny Womack, Individually and d/b/a Womack Brothers
Reconsideration denied on trench exposure
The Secretary asked the judge to reconsider a finding that employee exposure to a cited trench condition had not been proved. The Secretary argued that two witness statements showed the witness had entered the trench while its sides extended above the trench box. Based on observing the witness and…
Gutknecht Construction Co.
Settlement approved as final order
After the case was directed for Commission review, the parties filed a stipulation and settlement agreement. The Commission found that the agreement raised no issue warranting further review and was consistent with the Occupational Safety and Health Act and Commission rules. It incorporated the…
Richard Rogness and Presto-X Company
In re Richard Rogness and Presto-X Company (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 95-8): pesticide-use liability and penalty affirmed
Richard Rogness, a certified applicator employed by Presto-X Company, fumigated a moving van containing household electrical appliances with the restricted-use pesticide Phostoxin. The appliances did not function properly after the fumigation. The Environmental Appeals Board held that applying the…
Woodkiln, Inc.
In re Woodkiln, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 96-2): certificate of compliance denial affirmed
Woodkiln, Inc. sought a certificate of compliance for Model WK23G, a combination wood and gas burning heater. The heater did not complete the low-burn-rate test required by Method 28 under EPA's wood-heater regulations, and the Agency denied the certificate. The Administrative Law Judge upheld the…
Buckeye Florida, L.P.
In re Buckeye Florida, L.P. (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 97-2): petition dismissed as moot
Buckeye Florida operated a pulp and paper mill in Perry, Florida, under an NPDES permit. Help Our Polluted Environment petitioned for review of a presiding officer's decision concerning an evidentiary hearing on the permit. The permit expired while the petition was pending, and the agreement…
TRA Industries, Inc., a/k/a/ Huntwood Industries, Inc.
In re TRA Industries, Inc., a/k/a/ Huntwood Industries, Inc. (EAB EPCRA Appeal No. 96-2): appeal dismissed as untimely
TRA Industries, also known as Huntwood Industries, appealed an Initial Decision assessing a $19,797 administrative penalty for EPCRA reporting violations. The Initial Decision required an appeal to be filed with the EAB within 20 days after service, with additional time for service by mail…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- 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 public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.