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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USX Corporation, Minnesota Ore Operations
Mixed rulings across four dockets
This consolidated decision concerns four dockets at USX Corporation's Minntac Mine and Minntac Plant, a large taconite operation. The judge approved settlements for a wet walkway violation and unguarded lights, found an S&S violation when a locomotive failed to sound its horn at a railroad…
Daniel Lee Coal Co., Inc.
Clerical-error correction remanded
The Commission considered the Secretary of Labor's motion to correct a clerical error in a final order issued by the Chief Administrative Law Judge. The judge's order had become final 40 days after issuance under 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1). Applying its procedural rule for correcting clerical errors in…
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…
A.J. McNulty Co., Inc.
Hard-hat violation affirmed with a $750 penalty
A.J. McNulty was handling a six-foot concrete pillar with an overhead crane at a Staten Island worksite. Two employees receiving the pillar and their foreman were not wearing hard hats. The company acknowledged that the workers should have worn head protection and said it disciplined them under its…
C.R. Huffer Roofing
Aerial-lift basket violation affirmed for $3,000
C.R. Huffer Roofing worked on a fire-station renovation in Upper Arlington, Ohio. The Secretary withdrew the accident-program and repeat-training allegations, and the parties agreed that the aerial-lift control-check item would be other-than-serious. The ALJ vacated a personal fall-protection item…
Art Beavers Construction Company
Refresher-training order affirmed
MSHA ordered Art Beavers Construction Company employees off a mine site after finding that four employees had not received the required eight-hour annual refresher training. The company disputed whether its employees were miners and whether the training rule applied, then reached a settlement with…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Donald L. Gregory and Loy D. Peters v. Thunder Basin Coal Company
Thunder Basin Coal Company (FMSHRC WEST 92-279-D): Discovery-dismissal ruling reversed
The Secretary brought discrimination complaints on behalf of Donald L. Gregory and Loy D. Peters, miners who said Thunder Basin Coal Company retaliated against them for cooperating with MSHA and exercising Mine Act rights. The ALJ dismissed both complaints after the Secretary declined to provide…
FMC Wyoming Corporation
Abatement orders affirmed, contests dismissed
FMC Wyoming Corporation operates the FMC Trona Mine, where MSHA cited housekeeping and electrical-cover conditions and later issued failure-to-abate orders. The judge approved settlements that reduced or amended several penalties, affirmed the three citations and related orders, and assessed $100…
TRW, Inc.
Repeated housekeeping violation draws a $3,400 penalty
TRW manufactured valves and valve-train parts at an eighteen-acre Cleveland plant. OSHA found coolant or grinding lubricant pooled around two machines and oil leaking onto the floor of a locker room used by employees and cleaning staff. The ALJ found that TRW permitted the locker-room inspection…
Bradley Villers d/b/a Shannon Marie Harvesters
Citations vacated because no employer relationship was proved
The crew of the vessel Shannon Marie harvested sea cucumbers in Washington waters under a partnership agreement. The ALJ rejected the claim that Coast Guard authority displaced OSHA because the vessel was uninspected and the Coast Guard did not regulate its fishing operations. The Secretary still…
Carolyn Manti, d/b/a Manti Homes
Pro se answer accepted and default dismissal reversed
OSHA cited Manti Homes for two serious and three repeated construction violations involving housekeeping, ladders, and scaffolding, with proposed penalties totaling $19,400. After Manti missed the formal answer deadline, the company sent a handwritten response that disputed the cited conditions but…
Pyramid Masonry Contractors, Inc.
Outrigger scaffold midrail violation affirmed
Pyramid Masonry Contractors was performing masonry construction in Orlando, Florida. OSHA cited the company after an employee worked on a 20-inch-wide outrigger platform 18 feet above the ground beside a 29-inch opening that lacked a midrail. The Commission held that the tubular welded frame…
Kenneth J. Herman, Inc.
Construction safety violations affirmed
Kenneth J. Herman, Inc. was constructing fire escapes at a New York worksite. OSHA cited employees working without required head protection, using a scaffold frame instead of safe access, and working on scaffolds without required guardrails or effective tie-off protection. OSHA also cited the…
General Electric Company
In re General Electric Company (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 92-2a): disposal violation upheld, use violation dismissed
General Electric operated an industrial service center in Chamblee, Georgia, where it prepared PCB transformers for disposal. It used a freon distillation process to separate PCBs from contaminated solvent, reused the freon, and sent the separated PCBs for incineration without the required…
Maskell-Robbins, Inc.
Pipe-loading hazard violation affirmed
Maskell-Robbins distributed polyethylene pipe and reloaded truckloads of large pipe at its Houston yard. During the work, an employee climbed onto loaded pipe, and shifting pipe fell from the truck, struck him, and caused his death. The Commission affirmed a serious general duty clause violation…
Laidlaw Environmental Services, Thermal Oxidation Corporation, Inc.
In re Laidlaw Environmental Services, Thermal Oxidation Corporation, Inc. (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 92-20): permit remanded in part and review denied in part
Laidlaw Environmental Services operated a hazardous-waste incinerator in Roebuck, South Carolina, through its Thermal Oxidation Corporation facility. EPA Region IV modified the facility's permit to increase allowable metals feed rates after a trial burn showed that its air pollution controls could…
Genesee Power Station Limited Partnership
In re Genesee Power Station Limited Partnership (EAB PSD Appeals Nos. 93-1 through 93-7): lead BACT issue remanded and review otherwise denied
Genesee Power Station sought a PSD permit for a 35-megawatt power plant in Michigan that would burn several types of wood waste. Petitioners challenged public participation, alleged environmental racism, and disputed the permit's best available control technology determinations for lead…
E. Smalis Painting Co., Inc.
Bridge-painting citations settled for $50,000
E. Smalis Painting was repainting the Tarentum Bridge in Pennsylvania when OSHA inspected the worksite. OSHA issued three citations alleging one willful, nine serious, and two other-than-serious violations, with proposed penalties totaling $75,000. The parties agreed that the company would withdraw…
RCS Rizzoli Corp. of N.Y.
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA personally served a serious citation and penalty notice on the manager of an RCS Rizzoli bookstore. The company did not file its notice of contest within the required 15 working days because its operations manager failed to forward the citation to counsel before leaving on a business trip. The…
Bancker Construction Corp.
Trench support violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Bancker Construction was installing a protective system in an excavation for a telephone equipment vault in Bethpage, New York. Employees entered the excavation while the support system was only partly installed, and the trench was more than five feet deep with vertical walls in unstable Type C…
Air Plastics, Inc.
Mixed ruling on pit hazards and chemical training
Air Plastics manufactured fiberglass tanks using molds mounted over production pits that employees entered during setup. The judge vacated a failure-to-abate general duty clause citation alleging hazardous confined-space atmospheres because OSHA did not prove that employees faced a significant risk…
Beta Construction Company
Roof-monitor violation affirmed as serious
A Beta Construction employee fell from a 73-foot-high roof while applying roofing membrane and was fatally injured. The Commission found that a coworker, not the foreman, was serving as the safety monitor, but that the monitoring procedure still failed to comply with the fall-protection standard. A…
Asbestos Specialists, Inc.
In re Asbestos Specialists, Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 92-3): complaint dismissed without prejudice and remanded
Asbestos Specialists, Inc., an asbestos inspection and removal company in Utah, faced a proposed $13,000 civil penalty under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act. EPA Region VIII's complaint cited provisions that did not match the alleged sampling duties, misstated statutory requirements, and…
Gilbane Building Company
Mixed ruling on construction-site fall hazards
Gilbane Building Company was the construction manager responsible for overall safety at a large Pennsylvania project. The judge held Gilbane liable under the multi-employer worksite doctrine for hazards affecting subcontractor employees. He affirmed serious violations for a scaffold without…
S.K. Construction Company
Trench citation vacated for employee misconduct
S.K. Construction was repairing a sanitary sewer in Middletown, Ohio. A newly promoted foreman briefly entered a 13-foot-deep excavation without the required protective system while a worker was retrieving equipment to widen a trench box. OSHA alleged a willful trench-protection violation and…
Ardyce Carlson, M.D.
Dismissal vacated for factual inquiry
The chief administrative law judge dismissed Dr. Ardyce Carlson's notice of contest after no answer to the Secretary's complaint or response to an order to show cause appeared in the Commission's file. Dr. Carlson told the Commission that he had mailed an answer by certified mail, had not received…
Pitt-Des Moines, Inc.
Derrick safety-device violation affirmed
Pitt-Des Moines used a derrick to carry employees in a man-basket more than 90 feet up a water tower without an anti-two-blocking device. The device prevents the overhaul ball from contacting the boom tip and severing the line supporting the basket. The Commission rejected the company's…
El Paso Crane and Rigging Co., Inc.
Mixed ruling on steel-erection fall protection
An El Paso Crane and Rigging employee fell 27 feet from a roof-level steel beam while trying to remove a kink from metal banding and was fatally injured. The Commission agreed that safety nets were infeasible for the tilt-wall building, but the company did not prove that a scissor lift was…
Holly Springs Brick and Tile Co. & Bickerstaff Clay Products Co., Inc.
Bickerstaff case severed after withdrawal
The Commission had consolidated the Holly Springs Brick and Tile and Bickerstaff Clay Products cases for review. The Secretary then withdrew the only citation item at issue in the Bickerstaff docket. With no issue remaining in that case, the Commission severed docket 91-0229 and deemed the judge's…
Worcester Steel Erectors, Inc.
Formwork violations reversed
A metal deck collapsed during construction at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and several employees fell 42 feet. OSHA cited Worcester Steel for four alleged deviations from the deck manufacturer's specifications under a formwork performance standard. The Commission found that Worcester Steel…
Town of Seabrook, New Hampshire
In re Town of Seabrook, New Hampshire (EAB NPDES Appeals Nos. 93-2 and 93-3): review denied
The Town of Seabrook, New Hampshire, received an NPDES permit for a proposed municipal wastewater treatment plant with a 2,100-foot ocean outfall. Nearby residents and community groups sought evidentiary hearings and challenged the outfall, water quality, and permit process. The Environmental…
Mannkraft Corporation
Late-contest dismissal vacated for factual inquiry
The chief administrative law judge dismissed Mannkraft Corporation's notice of contest as untimely. Mannkraft's operations manager told the Commission that the citation had been addressed to a person who no longer worked for the company and that bankruptcy-related management changes and an…
Flintco, Inc.
Unguarded rebar violation classified as serious
Flintco was the general contractor for a hospital addition in Norman, Oklahoma. OSHA cited 12-inch reinforcing steel near an elevator shaft because employees could fall onto the uncapped rebar. The Commission held that the judge applied the wrong test when he focused on the low probability that an…
American Cyanamid Company et al.
In re American Cyanamid Company et al. (EAB NPDES Appeals Nos. 92-18 and 92-8): review denied
American Cyanamid Company operated an acrylic fiber plant in Florida, and Jefferson Smurfit Corporation operated a paperboard mill there. EPA Region IV included effluent toxicity limits and biological testing requirements in their NPDES permits to implement Florida's whole-effluent-toxicity…
DaNite Sign Co.
Aerial-lift controls violation affirmed
DaNite Sign used truck-mounted crane booms and attached platforms to raise employees for sign installation. Three platforms lacked upper controls, and a fourth crane's lower controls could not override the upper controls in an emergency. The Commission held that the standard applied because DaNite…
Herasco Contractors, Inc.
Abatement letter treated as timely contest
OSHA issued two citations to Herasco Contractors, and the company timely filed a document titled “Abatement Letter.” OSHA did not forward that letter to the Commission and later sought collection of penalties and late fees. The Commission held that the letter clearly disputed the citations by…
Kraft Food Ingredients Corp.
Mixed ruling on hot-work explosion hazards
Two Kraft maintenance employees were cutting bolts from a valve on a corn-oil pipeline when a fire and explosion occurred; one employee died and the other sustained severe burns. The Commission held that an explosive atmosphere could develop when the cutting torch heated a pressurized mixture of…
Westvaco Corporation
Printer-slotter lockout violation affirmed
Westvaco employees adjusted the cutting and slotting heads of a paperboard printer-slotter between customer orders without locking out the machine. The Commission held that the adjustments were “setting up” performed before normal production operations, so they did not qualify for the exception for…
Contractors Welding of Western New York, Inc.
Earlier Commission decision vacated after court remand
Contractors Welding was cited after OSHA inspected repair work on a metal drawbridge in Buffalo, New York. The disputed items concerned life jackets for employees working over or near water and ring buoys equipped with sufficient line for emergency rescue. In 1991, the Commission vacated the…
John J. Smith Masonry Co.
Two scaffold violations affirmed and one vacated
John J. Smith Masonry used a mobile scaffold while replacing a limestone window sill at the Cervantes Convention Center in St. Louis. The ALJ vacated the allegation that the scaffold was not erected under competent-person supervision because the Secretary did not identify who supervised its…
Security Elevator, Inc.
Fuel-cylinder wrench citation vacated
Security Elevator was cited after an OSHA inspection at a construction project for Sterling Drug Company in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. One alleged violation concerning fuel-gas equipment was settled before the hearing. The remaining item alleged that a required wrench was not left on a fuel-gas…
Sparrow Construction Corp.
General contractor liable for unshored fire-damaged floors
Sparrow Construction was the general contractor for the rehabilitation of fire-damaged residential buildings in New York City. Two subcontractor employees removed debris beneath floors and structural areas that had partially collapsed, with hanging debris above them and no shoring or bracing. The…
Rog's Inc.
Two personnel-platform defects affirmed as nonserious
Rog's Inc., a crane rigging and erection company, used a crane-suspended seat while removing an unused smokestack. The ALJ treated the device as a personnel platform under the cited crane standards. He vacated the crane-equipment items because OSHA inspected and photographed a different crane from…
Irwin Steel Erectors Inc.
Four contested construction items vacated
Irwin Steel Erectors performed steel erection and welding during construction of a Motorola facility in Austin, Texas. At the hearing, it resolved six serious citation items by withdrawing its contests in exchange for reduced penalties. The four remaining items concerned fire-extinguisher access…
Henry B. Salyers, Darryl Keene, Steve Vinson, Jimmy D. Wyatt Employed by Middle Creek Energy Incorporated
Henry B. Salyers, Darryl Keene, Steve Vinson, and Jimmy D. Wyatt Employed by Middle Creek Energy Incorporated (FMSHRC VA 92-83): Coal-dust violation upheld in part
MSHA alleged that four Middle Creek Energy supervisors knowingly allowed loose coal and coal dust to accumulate at the company's No. 1 Mine and that the mine superintendent knowingly used a damaged trailing cable. The judge found that Henry Salyers and Jimmy Wyatt knowingly violated the coal-dust…
Manter Co., Inc.
Trench violations affirmed and willful classification reduced
Manter Company excavated a nine-foot-deep trench to install a valve on an existing water main at a restaurant property in Woburn, Massachusetts. Employees had no ladder or stairway and climbed a wet, steep Type C soil bank that was partly blocked by a backhoe, so the ALJ affirmed the safe-egress…
Cyprus Plateau Mining Corp.
Contest cases dismissed and penalties assessed
Cyprus Plateau Mining contested a roof-control order and related enforcement action at its Star Point No. 2 coal mine, while MSHA sought civil penalties for the same mine. The judge dismissed the contest proceedings in WEST 92-370-R and WEST 92-371-R. In WEST 92-485, the order was modified to a…
Donald R. Holder v. Nevada Gold Mining, Inc.
Discrimination proceeding dismissed after settlement
Donald R. Holder brought a discrimination proceeding against Nevada Gold Mining, Inc. concerning the Sleeper Mine. The parties reached an amicable settlement, and Holder requested dismissal of the complaint. Judge John J. Morris granted the request and dismissed the case.
Mayaguez Regional Sewage Treatment Plant
In re Mayaguez Regional Sewage Treatment Plant (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 92-23): review denied
The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority sought a modified NPDES permit for a wastewater treatment plant in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, under the Clean Water Act's Section 301(h) marine-discharge program. EPA Region II denied the permit and the related evidentiary hearing request because the…
Foster-Wheeler Constructors, Inc.
Initial asbestos-monitoring violation affirmed
Foster-Wheeler Constructors renovated a boiler at a Florida power plant while an asbestos-abatement subcontractor removed insulation nearby. Foster employees worked and traveled in areas where monitoring and physical samples showed that asbestos fibers had escaped the removal enclosures, but Foster…
Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union
PSM abatement schedule challenge remanded
After an explosion injured or killed employees at an IMC Fertilizer plant in Sterlington, Louisiana, the Secretary and the employer entered a pre-contest settlement that included $10 million in penalties and a corporate process safety management implementation schedule. The employees' union…
Phillips 66 Company
Union settlement-rescission dispute remanded for evidence
After an explosion and fire caused fatalities and injuries at Phillips 66's Houston Chemical Complex, OSHA issued citations proposing more than $5.6 million in penalties. The Secretary and Phillips later reached a $4 million main settlement that also established a corporate process safety…
Brown Brothers Sand Company
Three electrical violations affirmed
MSHA cited Brown Brothers Sand Company, a small sand mine operator, for using an incorrect fuse, an improper fitting where a power cable entered an air-compressor compartment, and an inadequately insulated splice in a welder power cable. The judge found all three violations, concluded none was…
VP-5 Mining Company
Imminent-danger orders affirmed and citations vacated
MSHA issued two imminent-danger orders and two citations after finding methane readings in the gob of VP-5 Mining Company's longwall mine. The Commission affirmed the imminent-danger findings but reversed the judge's conclusion that VP-5 violated its ventilation plan. It vacated both citations…
UAE Coal Corp ASSOCIATES
UAE Coal Corporation Associates (FMSHRC PENN 93-181-D): Settlement approved
William Kroh brought a discrimination proceeding against UAE Coal Corporation Associates concerning the Harmony Mine. The parties filed a stipulation of settlement. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found the settlement consistent with the public interest, approved it, and ordered the case dismissed after…
U.S. Steel Group, Minnesota Ore Operations
Imminent-danger order affirmed
U.S. Steel Group contested an imminent-danger order and associated citation issued after an inspector saw a worker leaning under a raised railroad ore car that was not blocked or mechanically secured. The judge found that inspecting the underside of the raised car was work covered by the blocking…
Black Dragon Mining Company
Temporary reinstatement ordered after hearing request withdrawn
Black Dragon Mining Company operated the No. 1 Mine. The company withdrew its request for a hearing on the Secretary's application for temporary reinstatement of miner Kirby Senter after the Secretary represented that a permanent-reinstatement complaint would be filed by September 10, 1993. Judge…
Wilgar Land Company, Inc.
Settlement approved and penalty reduced
The Secretary sought civil penalties against Wilgar Land Company in two proceedings involving its No. 3 Mine. The parties proposed a settlement that reduced the penalty from $2,755 to $1,000. Judge Gary Melick approved the settlement and ordered payment in equal monthly installments beginning…
L. M. Karnes, Employed by J. H. Shears' Sons, Incorporated
Settlement approved with one citation vacated
L. M. Karnes worked at the Stockton Quarry Mine for J. H. Shears' Sons, Incorporated. The Secretary alleged three violations involving explosives storage, work 18 feet above ground without a safety belt and line, and access to the work area. The judge approved the settlement after considering the…
Shelly and Sands, Inc.
Site-specific paving safety-program item vacated
Shelly and Sands was repaving a county road near Senecaville, Ohio, when a finish roller went over a berm and landed on its operator, who died from her injuries. OSHA alleged that the company lacked an adequate site-specific accident-prevention program for roller operations. The ALJ found that 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.