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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Jewell Painting, Inc.
Lead-paint bridge job, serious items cut to nonserious, water-cooler general-duty item vacated
Jewell Painting removed lead paint from a bridge over the Androscoggin River in Gilead, Maine, then repainted it. After an August 1992 OSHA inspection of the cleanup phase, the agency issued a serious citation and an other-than-serious citation covering nonpotable-water labeling, lead-dust exposure…
McDonald Masonry
Four scaffold-safety items affirmed as serious, $5,500
McDonald Masonry did masonry work at a jobsite in De Soto, Texas, where OSHA inspected in July 1993 and issued a serious citation. The company contested four scaffold-related items but its owner did not appear at the June 1994 hearing, so Administrative Law Judge Stanley M. Schwartz proceeded on…
Beall Construction, Inc., d/b/a Tiger Manufacturing
Settlement resolves two consolidated cases, $1,000 penalty
Beall Construction, Inc., doing business as Tiger Manufacturing in Dallas, Texas, faced OSHA citations in two separate cases covering welding, respirator, flammable-liquid, spray-finishing, and electrical safety standards. At a June 28, 1994 hearing, the parties used a short settlement discussion…
Port Costa Materials, Inc.
Citation discrepancy remanded for correction
Port Costa Materials faced 73 citations in a civil penalty proceeding under the Mine Act. The ALJ's decision discussed Citation No. 3636555 as affirmed in one part but listed it as vacated in the final disposition. The Commission treated the Secretary's letter requesting correction as a timely…
Gustafson Construction Corporation
Trench cave-in violation affirmed as serious, $1,200
Gustafson Construction Corporation was installing water main and sewer lines in a subdivision in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. OSHA inspected in May 1993 and cited the company for several items. Gustafson withdrew its challenge to all but one: a serious trench cave-in item requiring an adequate protective…
Mid-Continent Resources, Inc.
Ventilation violation upheld and individual proceeding dismissed
Mid-Continent Resources changed the approved ventilation system at its Dutch Creek Mine after the mine stopped producing coal, without first obtaining MSHA approval. The judge found that the mine remained active for ventilation, pumping, and patrol work, and that the changes violated 30 C.F.R. §…
Wallace Brothers, Inc.
Portable-crusher citations affirmed
Wallace Brothers operated a portable rock crusher at changing pit locations. The judge held that the crusher was covered by the Mine Act because crushing rock is mineral preparation. The judge affirmed citations involving missing examination records, failure to notify MSHA about operations, missing…
Cross Mountain Coal Inc.
Mixed citation dispositions and settlements ordered
Cross Mountain Coal was cited at its No. 6 Mine for electrical, respirable-dust, cable-splice, and roof-control conditions. The judge found violations involving ground-monitor circuits, a trailing-cable splice, roof support, and failure to follow the approved roof control plan. The judge modified…
Contractors Sand and Gravel Supply, Inc.
Default order vacated and remanded
Contractors Sand and Gravel Supply failed to comply with a prehearing order, and the ALJ entered a default decision assessing $15,149 in civil penalties. The company asked the Commission to review the default, stating that it had believed the proceedings would be combined with other citations and…
Wyoming Fuel Company n/k/a Basin Resources, Inc.
Ventilation findings split on review
Basin Resources changed the ventilation system at the Golden Eagle Mine without obtaining MSHA's prior approval. The Commission affirmed that the change violated the mine's approved ventilation plan, but remanded whether the violation was significant and substantial because the judge had not…
Luis A. Ayala Colon Sucrs., Inc.
Repeat safety-shoe violation at a Puerto Rico pier affirmed, $320
Luis A. Ayala Colon Sucrs., Inc. was a stevedoring company unloading a vessel at the Ponce Municipal Pier in Puerto Rico. During a May 1993 inspection, an OSHA compliance officer saw two stevedores working on the pier apron, close to trucks and cargo slings, without safety shoes. The company…
Patrick J. Neman, d/b/a the Main Exchange
In re Patrick J. Neman, d/b/a the Main Exchange (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 93-3): default order vacated and proceedings remanded
Patrick J. Neman, doing business as the Main Exchange, appealed a $142,000 default penalty in a TSCA enforcement case involving alleged PCB regulation violations. He argued that bankruptcy had ended the case and that he had not received the amended complaint. The Board held that the bankruptcy…
County Concrete Corp.
Wheel-chocking rule applied to concrete-mixing truck
OSHA inspected after an unoccupied County Concrete mixing truck rolled backward down a ramp and struck two employees, killing one. The company argued that the truck was governed only by the motor-vehicle section, which did not require wheel chocks, and not by the cited general equipment rule. The…
S.G. Loewendick & Sons, Inc.
Suspended-backhoe operation held willful
S.G. Loewendick suspended a seven-ton backhoe and its operator from a crane roughly 70 to 80 feet above the ground to demolish bridge piers. The Commission held that the backhoe was a load, not a personnel platform, so the operator was prohibited from riding it under the incorporated crane-safety…
Andrew Catapano Enterprises, Inc.
Willful trench violation affirmed and penalty increased
Andrew Catapano Enterprises allowed an employee to work in an unprotected trench dug in unstable or soft material in New York. The Commission upheld the judge's factual and credibility findings and affirmed the violation as willful. It rejected the company's notice argument because the Secretary's…
Norwich Laboratories, Inc.
Citations affirmed after employer stopped defending, $3,300
Norwich Laboratories, based in Amherst, Massachusetts, was inspected by OSHA between January and February 1993 after a complaint. In March 1993 the company received a serious citation with five items (a proposed $600 penalty on each, $3,000 total) and one "other" item ($300). The company contested…
Niemand Industries, Inc.
Talc citations and $2,800 penalty vacated after court remand
OSHA cited Niemand Industries for employee talc exposure, use of unapproved dust masks, and failure to use feasible controls. The Eleventh Circuit reversed the Commission's earlier finding because OSHA had measured talc exposure with a technique not provided in Table Z-3. The Commission concluded…
Boyer Valley Fertilizer Co. and UAP Special Products, Inc.
In re Boyer Valley Fertilizer Co. and UAP Special Products, Inc. (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 93-2): complaints dismissed under custom-blending policy
Boyer Valley Fertilizer Company prepared a pesticide and fertilizer blend for use on an apartment complex in Kansas City, Missouri, and UAP Special Products supplied and delivered the blend to the commercial applicator hired by the customer. EPA Region VII alleged that the blend was an unregistered…
Harris Masonry, Inc.
EAJA fee award reduced by settlement
Harris Masonry had received an attorney-fee award after prevailing in its OSHA case. The Secretary petitioned for review of the hourly rate used in that award, and the parties then settled the Equal Access to Justice Act dispute. The Secretary withdrew the petition, and Harris agreed that its…
United Sheet Metal, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation affirmed as issued
United Sheet Metal received an OSHA citation in January 1994. Under the OSH Act, an employer has 15 working days after receiving a citation to file a notice of contest, which gave the company until mid-February. It filed late, and the Secretary moved to dismiss the contest as untimely. The company…
Pit-Stop, Inc. (Uniroyal Pitstop)
Unguarded service pit affirmed as a serious violation, $100
Pit-Stop, Inc., operating as Uniroyal Pitstop in Midwest City, Oklahoma, ran an automotive shop where workers used floor pits about 3 feet wide, 5 feet deep, and 10 feet long to reach the underside of vehicles for oil changes and grease jobs. OSHA cited the shop after an inspection found several of…
National Cement Company of California, Inc. and Systech Environmental Corporation
In re National Cement Company of California, Inc. and Systech Environmental Corporation (EAB RCRA Appeal Nos. 94-5 and 94-6): permit denial upheld
National Cement operated a cement manufacturing plant in Lebec, California, and used liquid hazardous wastes as supplemental fuel. EPA Region IX denied its RCRA permit application because Tejon Ranchcorp, which owned the land and leased it to National, had not signed the required certification…
New England Roofing and Sheet Metal Co.
Roof fall-protection citations affirmed, $2,500
New England Roofing and Sheet Metal Co. was doing built-up roofing on a five-story building in New Haven, Connecticut. An OSHA compliance officer driving by looked up, saw workers at the edge of the roughly 60-foot-high roof, and went up to inspect. He found employees working near the unprotected…
Jeanette M. Gould, d/b/a Gould Publications
Exit violations affirmed and poster item vacated
Gould Publications operated a law-book publishing facility with a basement pressroom containing large quantities of paper, ink, and flammable cleaners. The Commission found that a locked door intended as an exit could delay employees escaping a fire even though other routes were available. It also…
Elmont Glass Company, Inc.
Settlement approved, aerial-lift items affirmed at $1,200
Elmont Glass Company, a glazing contractor based on Staten Island, New York, was inspected by OSHA and issued two citations in September 1993. The serious citation alleged failure to conduct regular worksite inspections and two aerial-lift hazards (workers not standing firmly on the basket floor…
Island ADC, Inc.
Four conceded serious violations affirmed, full $3,125 penalty upheld
Island ADC was a construction subcontractor working at a New York City job site. After OSHA inspections in early 1993, the company received one citation with four serious items: an ungrounded electric cutter, a five-foot scaffold without guardrails, unlocked scaffold casters, and a stairway missing…
McNally Construction and Tunneling Co.
Tunnel standard preempts general electrical rule
McNally was constructing part of a Cleveland sewer tunnel in shale where methane could be encountered. OSHA alleged that the tunnel's lighting equipment and wiring were not intrinsically safe under the general construction electrical standard for hazardous locations. The Commission found that the…
K M & M, a Joint Venture
General electrical citation preempted by tunnel standard
K M & M was constructing a sewer tunnel in Cleveland shale, a formation known to contain combustible methane. OSHA alleged that lighting and other electrical equipment in the tunnel was not approved as intrinsically safe under the general construction electrical standard for hazardous locations…
General Motors Corporation, Inland Fisher Guide Division
In re General Motors Corporation, Inland Fisher Guide Division (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 93-5): permit remanded in part
General Motors Corporation's Inland Fisher Guide Division manufactured automobile components at a 234-acre facility in Anderson, Indiana. EPA Region V's HSWA permit required investigation and information submissions for designated solid waste management units. The Environmental Appeals Board upheld…
Patterson Drilling Company, Inc.
Bloodborne-pathogen citations vacated for an oil-field drilling crew
Patterson Drilling Company ran a horizontal drilling rig at a site south of Gonzales, Texas. OSHA inspected after a February 1993 accident in which falling equipment caused a fatal crushing injury to a worker. The agency issued a serious citation with eight items and an "other" citation with two…
Interstate Erectors, Inc.
Two willful fall-protection citations affirmed against a steel erector
Interstate Erectors was a small steel erection company putting up skeleton steel for a building in Idaho Falls, Idaho. During a February 1993 inspection, an OSHA compliance officer photographed and videotaped ironworkers moving across beams 42 feet up without being tied off, both on exterior beams…
Dream Set Fashion, Inc.
$5,500 penalty affirmed for six serious violations
Dream Set Fashion manufactured women's apparel in New York City and contested only the $5,500 penalty for six serious violations. The conditions involved a covered exit sign, unguarded fan blades, an unguarded rotating shaft, an unguarded sewing-machine pulley, missing grounding pins, and an open…
Great Lakes Chemical Corp. Main Plant
In re Great Lakes Chemical Corp. Main Plant (EAB RCRA Appeal Nos. 92-34, 92-36, and 92-37): permit review denied
Great Lakes Chemical Corporation operated a chemical facility in El Dorado, Arkansas, under a permit issued jointly by EPA Region VI and the State of Arkansas. Great Lakes challenged conditions involving land-disposal restrictions and corrective action, nearby residents challenged other permit…
City of Yankton, South Dakota
In re City of Yankton, South Dakota (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 93-2a): pretreatment program requirement deleted
The City of Yankton operated a publicly owned treatment works that discharged under an NPDES permit into the Missouri River. EPA Region VIII had included a pretreatment program in the permit for the small plant, but the Administrative Law Judge ordered that condition deleted because EPA had not…
Great Lakes Division of National Steel Corp
In re Great Lakes Division of National Steel Corp (EAB EPCRA Appeal No. 93-3): violations affirmed and penalty upheld
Great Lakes Division of National Steel operated a steel manufacturing facility on Zug Island, Michigan. A hydrogen sulfide release occurred after a pilot flame went out in a stack releasing combusted coke oven gas. The Environmental Appeals Board upheld findings that National did not promptly…
Conie Construction, Inc.
Willful excavation violation affirmed with $21,000 penalty
Three Conie Construction employees worked in an excavation about 20 to 21 feet deep, with hard clay above solid rock. The Commission found that the excavation was too narrow at the top to provide the slope required for Type A soil. Conie's foreman knew the excavation standard but relied on his own…
American Bridge/Lashcon, J.V.
Fall protection and cylinder-storage violations affirmed
American Bridge/Lashcon employees repeatedly crossed a 13-inch-wide beam 28 feet above the ground while wearing safety belts that were not tied off. The Commission held that protection was required for this discrete crossing task even though employees tied off while performing other work. It also…
J&L Specialty Products Corp.
In re J&L Specialty Products Corp. (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 92-22): copper compliance condition remanded
J&L Specialty Products operated a facility in Louisville, Ohio, whose discharge affected the East Branch Nimishillen Creek. J&L challenged Ohio's Clean Water Act section 304(l) listing of the creek and J&L as a source of copper and nickel, and argued that cyanide in its discharge came from off-site…
Gordon Redd Lumber Company
In re Gordon Redd Lumber Company (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 91-4): enforcement findings and penalty remanded
Gordon Redd operated a creosote wood-treating facility in Brookhaven, Mississippi. EPA Region IV alleged violations involving surface impoundments used for contaminated wastewater and the storage of K001 hazardous waste in plastic garbage bags. The Environmental Appeals Board held that the surface…
Hackney, Inc.
General PPE rule requires safety belts for crane fall hazards
Hackney manufactured carbon steel flanges at a Mississippi plant where maintenance employees regularly worked on an overhead crane and trolley about 33 feet above the ground. Some work areas lacked guardrails, and employees did not use safety belts even though the company had belts available and…
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…
Marco Electronics Sales & Service
Locked exit and blocked fire extinguisher affirmed, penalties reduced
Marco Electronics Sales & Service repairs and sells electronic equipment in Corpus Christi, Texas. After a February 1993 inspection, OSHA cited the shop for a marked exit door that was locked, a fire extinguisher mounted low and blocked by a rolling work table and a TV being repaired, and two…
Tropical Brands Packing Corp.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citations stand
Tropical Brands Packing Corp., a New Jersey company, received two OSHA citations with a proposed penalty on June 1, 1993. An employer has 15 working days after receiving a citation to file a written notice of contest. The company received the citations on June 4, 1993 but did not respond until an…
McCain Foods, Inc.
Willful asbestos violations and $165,000 in penalties affirmed
McCain Foods operated a food-processing plant in Easton, Maine, while a major renovation project removed old piping and other material containing asbestos. The judge found that management knew asbestos was present, misled an OSHA inspector about the work, failed to train or protect employees, and…
Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
Settlement approved over intervener's objections
Southwestern Bell and the Secretary submitted a settlement agreement, and the Communications Workers of America local serving as the authorized employee representative did not object. Robert Krueger, an intervener who apparently filed the complaint leading to the inspection, submitted several…
Cisneros Packing Co., Inc.
$2,550 assessed for stair, exit, lockout, and posting violations
Cisneros Packing processed pork skins at a Texas plant and contested only the proposed penalties, not the underlying violations. The remaining penalized conditions involved a nonconforming kettle stairway, a boarded and obstructed exit, cleaning an energized slicer without a lockout program, and…
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp.
Repeated overhead-crane violations affirmed with $50,000 penalty
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel operated overhead crane no. 26 at its Yorkville, Ohio facility. A switch box in the crane cab had lacked a cover for years, exposing energized electrical parts near the operator despite repeated complaints to supervisors. A securing pin was also missing from a heavy cable…
National Engineering & Contracting Co.
Serious gasoline-labeling violation affirmed
A foreman placed an unlabeled gasoline container on the open back of a company pickup truck at a bridge construction site. Cold weather and gasoline overspray had prevented a label from sticking, and the foreman left the container while moving around the worksite. The Commission found employee…
D & J Manufacturing Inc.
Four repeat hazard-communication violations affirmed
D & J Manufacturing makes custom printed advertising specialties and novelties in Toledo, Ohio, using inks, solvents, adhesives, and pigments. OSHA had cited the company in 1992 for hazard-communication failures, and those citations became final. A February 1993 follow-up inspection found the same…
P.J. Lodola & Sons, Inc.
Stairway violations affirmed serious, outlet downgraded, drill item vacated
P.J. Lodola & Sons was the electrical subcontractor on a warehouse project for Lego in Enfield, Connecticut. A 1992 OSHA inspection led to a serious citation for an uncovered electrical outlet and for trailer stairs with uneven risers and missing rails, plus a nonserious citation covering…
National Engineering and Contracting, Inc.
Bridge fall-protection violations affirmed
National was the general contractor and Tri-State its steel-erection subcontractor on rehabilitation of Cleveland's Main Avenue Bridge. A Tri-State foreman fell 80 feet and died when a deck pan dropped during a nonroutine operation; a second ironworker survived by grabbing a structural member. The…
Kohler Company
277 recordkeeping violations affirmed with $29,430 penalty
Kohler used a computerized injury log at its Wisconsin manufacturing plant but coded 277 recordable injuries as first-aid cases. Most errors resulted from failing to track later medical treatment, while others occurred because nurses or safety staff overlooked information already available. The…
Craig Mechanical, Inc.
Late contest denied despite unanswered calls to OSHA
OSHA issued Craig Mechanical one serious and several other-than-serious citations with $825 in proposed penalties. The owner called OSHA twice within the 15-working-day contest period, said he wanted the charges dismissed, and was told to wait for the area director, who never returned the calls. He…
Allied-Signal Inc. (Elizabeth, NJ)
In re Allied-Signal Inc. (Elizabeth, NJ) (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 92-30): permit investigation requirements upheld
Allied-Signal operated a manufacturing facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, under a hazardous-waste permit issued by EPA Region II. The permit required a RCRA Facility Investigation for two solid-waste management units and initial soil sampling at other units and areas of concern. Allied argued that…
Environmental Waste Control, Inc.
In re Environmental Waste Control, Inc. (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 92-39): permit remanded in part
Environmental Waste Control, Inc. operated a hazardous-waste treatment facility in Inkster, Michigan, and challenged eighteen conditions in the federal portion of its EPA Region V permit. The Environmental Appeals Board denied review of most objections, including challenges to the permit…
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…
T & S Utilities, Inc.
Training, ladder, hard-hat, and fatality-reporting violations affirmed
T & S Utilities installed sewage-pump-station lines in Fort Myers, Florida, and employees worked inside manholes at the site. The judge vacated a general duty clause allegation because a specific confined-space training standard covered the condition and the record did not show actual atmospheric…
Liquid Air Puerto Rico Corporation
In re Liquid Air Puerto Rico Corporation (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 92-1): permit condition remanded in part
Liquid Air Puerto Rico Corporation operated a small industrial gas manufacturing facility in Cataño, Puerto Rico, with a discharge described as stormwater and groundwater. Liquid Air argued that the Clean Water Act's stormwater permitting moratorium applied and sought review of EPA Region II's…
G-UB-MK Constructors
Arsenic, asbestos, hazard-communication, and respirator items resolved
G-UB-MK repaired and modified boiler unit no. 5 at TVA's Colbert Fossil Plant in Alabama. Initial arsenic monitoring found ten of eleven sampled employees above the permissible exposure limit, but written notice was delayed and requested records were not promptly provided to OSHA or the site labor…
Pan Building Corporation
Settlement affirms nine violations and reduces the penalty
OSHA cited Pan Building Corporation for six serious and three other-than-serious violations and proposed $8,700 in penalties. The Secretary moved to dismiss the company's notice of contest as late, while Pan argued that OSHA personnel had misled it or that procedural relief was warranted. When the…
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.