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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SJ Pyo Corp
Nine-item citation affirmed by default
SJ Pyo Corp. stopped participating in its citation contest despite repeated court communications, conference calls, scheduling requirements, and two show-cause orders. Because the owner had limited English proficiency, the court provided Korean interpretation for calls and issued court documents in…
Empire Roofing Company of Georgia, Inc.
Roof and aerial-lift fall violations affirmed
An Empire Roofing crew repaired a hotel roof about 40 feet above the ground using an aerial lift for access. Near the end of the day, the four workers removed their harnesses and continued working on the sloped metal roof for about 10 to 15 minutes, then descended in the lift without being tied…
Wayne J. Griffin Electric, Inc.
Electrical contact violations affirmed
Wayne J. Griffin Electric installed replacement substations during a large electrical upgrade at a New Hampshire office complex. An electrician was seriously injured when his face contacted an energized bus bar while he worked inside a switchgear compartment believed to be de-energized. The judge…
Secretary of Labor v. Bundy Auger Mining, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Bundy Auger Mining, Inc. (FMSHRC WEVA 2015-1036): Amended highwall settlement approved for $4,410
Bundy Auger Mining faced two section 104(d)(1) enforcement actions involving an unsafe highwall condition and inadequate working-area examinations. Judge William B. Moran had rejected an initial settlement that reduced both specially assessed penalties by 30 percent because its supporting…
Solares Electrical Services, Inc.
Arc-flash PPE and insulated-tool citations vacated
Solares Electrical Services updated an energy-monitoring system at a Miami hospital where an electrician was burned by an arc flash after entering an energized transfer-switch cabinet. The employee first caused a spark and fire alarm, was told by his foreman to wait, but reentered the locked work…
Hensel Phelps Construction Co.
Original controlling-employer trench citation vacated
Hensel Phelps was the general contractor for an Austin library project where a subcontractor's employees worked beside an unprotected excavation wall more than 12 feet deep. The stipulated record established the trench violation, Hensel Phelps's control over site safety, its knowledge of the…
Wal-Mart Stores East, LP, d/b/a Walmart Distribution Center #7035
Hepatitis B vaccination violations affirmed
Walmart operated a volunteer Serious Injury Response Team at a Florida distribution center to provide first aid until emergency medical personnel arrived. Because team members could contact blood while treating injured employees, the judge found that they had occupational exposure to bloodborne…
Jake's Fireworks, Inc.
Fireworks storage and hazard-control violations affirmed
Jake's Fireworks employees were clearing old and damaged consumer fireworks from storage containers at a former Kansas facility when a fire broke out. Both employees were badly burned, and one later died. The judge found that damaged fireworks, exposed pyrotechnic material, combustible debris, and…
Secretary of Labor v. Bundy Auger Mining, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Bundy Auger Mining, Inc. (FMSHRC WEVA 2015-1036): Highwall settlement denied for missing factual support
Bundy Auger Mining faced two specially assessed section 104(d)(1) actions involving unsafe highwall ground and inadequate working-shift examinations. The parties proposed reducing each penalty by 30 percent, for a total settlement of $4,410 instead of $6,300. Their explanation said Bundy relied on…
Yantis Company
Repeat trench citation vacated for unforeseeable misconduct
A Yantis Company crew installed a sewer line in San Antonio using a trench about 9 to 10 feet deep with vertical, unprotected walls. OSHA observed an employee and later the crew foreman entering the trench without shoring, sloping, or another cave-in protection system. The judge found that OSHA…
The Reybold Group of Companies, Inc
Young worker fall violations affirmed and willful item reduced
Reybold employed a 17-year-old vocational-school student at a Delaware residential construction project where balconies remained open and unguarded. The student regularly accessed balconies for cleanup work and was hospitalized after falling 11 feet while receiving trim passed down from the floor…
Jesco, Inc.
Demolition power-line citation vacated
Jesco replaced an 80-to-85-foot bucket conveyor system at a Mississippi pet food plant while employees used the top of an electrically powered man lift as a work platform. During removal, a lifted conveyor casing struck electrical conduit serving the lift, causing the lift to rise and fatally crush…
Berardi's Fresh Roast
Coffee bagger guarding violation affirmed
Berardi's Fresh Roast used an automatic machine to fill, heat-seal, and cut foil coffee bags. Bags regularly stuck near the machine's heated jaws and knife, and operators often reached through a gap beneath the interlocked doors to remove them while the machine kept running. An operator's fingertip…
Barnard Construction Company, Incorporated
Grinder and floor-cover items partly affirmed
Barnard Construction faced safety and health citations arising from work at a federally owned Kentucky power project. The judge affirmed a serious bench-grinder item because its work rests exceeded the permitted gap and the accessible machine had not been effectively tagged or removed from employee…
Matthew Bane v. Denison Mines (USA) Corp., now known as Energy Fuels Resources (USA) Inc.
Matthew Bane v. Denison Mines (USA) Corp. (FMSHRC WEST 2012-1224 DM): Safety complaints did not cause layoff
Matthew Bane, an electrician at Denison's underground uranium and vanadium mine, alleged that the company laid him off because he raised safety and health concerns. Judge L. Zane Gill found that Bane engaged in protected activity by reporting a supervisor's unsafe conduct, complaining about dust…
True Value Company
Incomplete settlement order set aside and remanded
OSHA issued True Value Company two serious citation items with proposed penalties totaling $8,000. The parties' settlement withdrew Item 1 but accidentally failed to address Item 2, and the judge's approval order later became final without resolving the entire case. The Secretary then asked to…
Manson Construction Company
Platform-securing item withdrawn and remaining rulings left unreviewed
Manson Construction Company was cited after OSHA inspected work at the Vashon Island Ferry Terminal, where employees used a crane-suspended personnel platform and worked atop a group of pilings called a dolphin. The judge vacated three scaffold-based items but affirmed fall protection violations…
Peacock Engineering, Inc.
Forklift-modification item left vacated after split vote
Peacock Engineering replaced a forklift's forks with a custom attachment so it could hoist burial crypts suspended from wire rope slings. OSHA alleged that the unapproved modification affected the forklift's safe operation in violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.602(c)(1)(ii). The judge vacated the item…
Peacock Engineering, Inc.
General duty citation vacated for lack of feasible abatement
Peacock Engineering installed burial crypts at Miramar National Cemetery using an excavator and wire rope slings. An employee's thumb was amputated by a sling while he guided a suspended crypt into place by hand, and OSHA cited Peacock under the general duty clause for amputation, struck-by, and…
Evergreen Construction Company
Fall protection citation left affirmed after split vote
Evergreen Construction Company was the general contractor for an Atlanta hotel project where a subcontractor's employees worked near fourth-floor edges without fall protection. OSHA cited Evergreen as the controlling employer under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.501(b)(1), and the judge found constructive…
K.M. Davis Contracting, Inc.
Cave-in citation remains serious after split vote
K.M. Davis Contracting installed an underground water line beside a highway, where OSHA found an employee working in a deep excavation without cave-in protection. OSHA alleged a willful violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.652(a)(1) and proposed a $53,900 penalty. The judge affirmed the violation but…
Martin Mechanical Contractors, Inc.
Willful skylight fall protection violation affirmed
Martin Mechanical Contractors sent a three-person crew to replace rooftop HVAC equipment at a Georgia warehouse. The roof had eight unguarded skylights, and no crew member used a personal fall arrest system or other protection. One employee fell about 15 feet through a skylight and died from his…
A.C. Castle Construction Co., Inc. / Daryl J. Provencher, d/b/a Provencher Home Improvement
Roofing violations yield $173,500 in penalties
A.C. Castle Construction contracted with homeowners for roofing work and assigned projects to Provencher Home Improvement. At a Massachusetts house, at least two roofers fell about 20 feet after a wooden scaffold plank snapped, and OSHA cited scaffold, ladder, training, anchorage, and fall…
United Launch Alliance, LLC
Launchpad machine-guarding violation affirmed
United Launch Alliance technicians used compressed air to test a piston in a launchpad strut-capture component at Cape Canaveral. A technician's hand slipped into the moving component while he connected an energized air hose, resulting in the amputation of two fingers. The judge found that the…
Juan Guillen
Scaffold-training citation affirmed on summary judgment
OSHA cited Juan Guillen for failing to provide required scaffold-hazard training under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.454(a). An employee working from a mobile scaffold fell and died from his injuries. Guillen did not answer the Secretary's complaint or requests for admissions, so the material allegations were…
Vulcan Industrial Contractors Co., LLC
Asbestos cleanup citation vacated
Vulcan Industrial Contractors performed asbestos abatement on boiler piping at an Alabama power plant using glove bags, sealed work areas, HEPA vacuuming, and disposal controls. OSHA later found a small piece of asbestos-containing debris embedded in a scaffold plank after Vulcan had deregulated…
Capitol Concrete Contractors, Inc.
Skid-steer and injury-reporting citations vacated
A Capitol Concrete trainer fractured his wrist when skid-steer loader arms descended as he reached into the cab during operator training. OSHA alleged a general duty clause violation based on trainers approaching operational skid-steers and also alleged that the hospitalization was reported late…
Adam Zembrzuski dba A to Z Construction
Mistaken citation withdrawal remanded for review
OSHA issued A to Z Construction three serious citation items with proposed penalties totaling $2,000. The employer later said it no longer wished to contest, but the Secretary mistakenly filed a withdrawal of the citation instead of a withdrawal of the employer's notice of contest. The judge…
Warrior Coal, LLC v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Warrior Coal, LLC
Warrior Coal, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC KENT 2011-1084-R, et al.): Roof and rib violations yielded $129,250 penalty
MSHA cited Warrior Coal after inspectors found an excessively wide entry and extensive unstable roof and rib conditions in the Cardinal underground coal mine's No. 2 unit. The case covered a roof-control-plan violation, an imminent-danger order involving roof bolters beside an overhanging rock rib…
Samsson Construction, Incorporated
Scaffold violations affirmed with $30,000 in penalties
Samsson Construction was the general contractor for a Florida retail construction project where employees used an incompletely planked scaffold without required guardrails and climbed the scaffold frame for access. A stucco-crew supervisor knew the planking and guardrail setup did not comply with…
Accurate Elevator Fire Door Corp.
Citations affirmed after contest dismissed by default
OSHA cited Accurate Elevator Fire Door after an elevator technician was struck by falling brick while working below façade work and later died. The citation alleged inadequate hazard instruction and failure to protect employees from falling objects. After contesting, Accurate repeatedly failed to…
Employment 2000 Corp.
Late contest dismissed and settlement left unapproved
OSHA mailed Employment 2000 a five-item serious citation with proposed penalties totaling $25,200, and a sales manager signed for it. The company filed its notice of contest months after the statutory deadline and did not show excusable neglect despite receiving another opportunity after a…
Best Touch Tub & Tile, LLC
Citation affirmed after repeated failure to answer
OSHA issued Best Touch Tub & Tile a citation alleging serious violations with proposed penalties totaling $25,200. After contesting, the company did not answer the Secretary's complaint. The judge sent three orders to show cause, including notices to updated counsel and directly to the company's…
Sanderson Farms, Inc.
Poultry-line guarding citation vacated
Sanderson Farms operated poultry-processing cone lines with a small gap between a splashguard and a moving conveyor. An employee reached for trapped chicken material and suffered an amputated finger when her hand became caught. OSHA amended its citation to allege a machine-guarding violation under…
Secretary of Labor v. Essroc Cement Corp.
Secretary of Labor v. Essroc Cement Corp. (FMSHRC WEVA 2013-1310-M): Substantial response and continued talks excused default
Essroc failed to file its answer with the Commission, and an unanswered show-cause order became a final default. The company had sent MSHA a detailed position statement and continued settlement communications with both the conference representative and the Solicitor's Office, leading it to believe…
Secretary of Labor v. Willits Company, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Willits Company, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2014-1049-M): Ongoing negotiations justified reopening default
Willits Company did not timely answer the Secretary's penalty petition, and an unanswered show-cause order became a final default order. Willits said it did not understand how the case had closed because it had been negotiating the penalty with the Solicitor's Office. The Secretary confirmed that…
BML Construction
Contest dismissed after company abandoned case
OSHA cited BML Construction for two serious violations at a Missouri construction site and proposed penalties totaling $4,320. After filing a notice of contest, BML did not communicate with the Secretary, attend the pretrial conference, respond to a sanctions motion, or answer the judge's order to…
Brower Dental Health, P.C.
Exposure-control-plan violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Brower Dental Health operated dental offices where employees encountered blood and other potentially infectious material in their daily work. During OSHA's inspection, employees could not locate or identify the required written exposure control plan, and the owner did not produce one until about…
Perdue Foods, Inc.
Partial settlement order remanded for unresolved item
Perdue Foods and the Secretary submitted a settlement agreement that expressly excluded Citation 1, Item 2 because Perdue intended to continue contesting it. The judge nevertheless approved the settlement and the order was docketed, even though the agreement did not resolve the entire case. Within…
Caldwell Coatings, LLC
Incomplete consolidated settlement remanded
OSHA issued Caldwell Coatings separate sets of citations in two cases that were later consolidated. The parties' settlement withdrew the citations in Docket 15-1216 but accidentally omitted all citations in Docket 15-1217, and the judge's approval order became final without resolving the…
Aldridge Electric, Inc.
Excessive-heat general duty citation vacated
An Aldridge Electric employee suffered heat stroke while working on a Chicago transit construction project and died the next day. OSHA alleged that Aldridge exposed workers to excessive heat in violation of the general duty clause. After an extensive hearing, the judge found that the Secretary did…
Payton Roofing, Inc.
Safety-monitor violation affirmed with increased penalty
Payton Roofing employees worked on a low-slope commercial roof about nine feet above the ground without personal fall protection. A company officer said he was serving as the safety monitor, but he remained on the ground and could not see employees working on the back side of the roof. The judge…
F & H Coatings, LLC
Unsecured pressure-vessel hazard citation affirmed
F & H Coatings prepared to sandblast and paint a 12,000-pound cylindrical pressure vessel that rested unsecured on round pipe racks. The vessel became unstable, rolled off the racks, and fatally crushed an employee who was partly inside its manway. The judge found that the setup created a…
Secretary of Labor v. WESCO
Secretary of Labor v. WESCO (FMSHRC WEST 2016-0209): Flyrock landing on a neighbor's yard put a person inside the blast area
WESCO is a blasting contractor that loaded and shot the explosives at the Adams Claim Mine, a surface gypsum mine in Lyon County, Nevada, operated by Art Wilson Company. Three days after an October 16, 2015 blast, a woman who lives next to the mine complained to MSHA that rock had rained down…
Briones Utility Company
Trench cave-in citation reinstated with reduced penalty
Briones Utility Company used hydraulic shoring while employees exposed underground utility lines in a seven-foot-deep trench. The judge vacated OSHA's cave-in protection citation after finding that employee exposure was not proven and that entering the trench was necessary to install another shore…
Jim Boyd Construction, Inc.
Trench violation reclassified as willful
Jim Boyd Construction used trench shields that did not extend above vertical trench walls and did not slope the soil above the shields as required by 29 C.F.R. § 1926.652(a)(1). The superintendent knew the requirement, considered stacking the shields, and chose not to comply because he believed…
Secretary of Labor v. Southwest Rock Products, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Southwest Rock Products, LLC (FMSHRC WEST 2016-0001): Original release of the decision vacating the housekeeping citation
This is the original release of Judge William B. Moran's decision in the Southwest Rock Products housekeeping case, later reissued as an amended decision to fix a typo in the A.C. number. The company runs Portable #1, a two-person sand and gravel mine in Pinal County, Arizona. An MSHA inspector…
Secretary of Labor v. Southwest Rock Products, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Southwest Rock Products, LLC (FMSHRC WEST 2016-0001): No housekeeping violation at a mine that had not started running that day
Southwest Rock Products runs Portable #1, a two-person sand and gravel mine in Pinal County, Arizona. An MSHA inspector arrived at 8:00 a.m. on July 7, 2015, before the plant started up, and at 8:50 a.m. cited the company under 30 C.F.R. § 56.20003(a), the housekeeping standard, for material built…
Tarkett Alabama, Inc.
Turret-winder guarding citation vacated
Tarkett Alabama used turret winders to roll flooring products onto large cardboard cores. An employee entered a malfunctioning winder and became entangled in a spinning shaft, suffering multiple serious injuries. OSHA cited two winders under the general machine-guarding standard for caught-in and…
Matsu Ohio, Inc.
Lockout and power-press citation items vacated
Matsu Ohio manufactured stamped automotive parts using partial-revolution mechanical power presses. OSHA alleged several lockout/tagout and power-press violations involving servicing procedures, employee training, lock identification, die-setting procedures, and operating-mode selectors. The judge…
United Contractors Midwest, Inc. d/b/a R.A. Cullinan & Son
Willful trench citation left affirmed after split vote
United Contractors Midwest employees worked in a seven-to-eight-foot-deep excavation whose Type B soil walls were not properly sloped or benched. The judge affirmed a willful violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.652(a)(1) and rejected the company's unpreventable employee misconduct defense. The Commission…
Latshaw Drilling and Exploration, LLC
Extension-cord strain-relief citation vacated
OSHA found that the outer sheathing on an energized extension cord had pulled away from a floodlight connection on Latshaw Drilling's oil rig, exposing the insulated inner conductors. The judge found that the strain-relief device was not functioning as required and that employees had access to a…
Triumph Construction Corp.
Repeat cave-in violation affirmed and loose-soil item vacated
Triumph Construction replaced a water main in lower Manhattan using an excavation without a cave-in protective system. An employee was injured when part of the excavation collapsed. The judge found that the excavation was at least five feet deep where the employee worked, so the shallow-excavation…
Benton-Georgia, LLC
Attorney-fee application denied after citation withdrawal
OSHA cited Benton-Georgia after an employee was seriously injured by a vehicle while performing roadway work, but later withdrew the citation because the available evidence did not appear to sustain it. Benton-Georgia then sought $9,846.25 in attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to…
Nortek Powder Coating LLC
Repeat citations affirmed by default
OSHA issued Nortek Powder Coating repeat citations with proposed penalties totaling $3,400. Nortek filed a notice of contest but did not answer the Secretary's complaint. The judge sent an order to show cause by regular and certified mail, and Commission staff also called and emailed the company's…
Heat Transfer Products Group, LLC.
Faded aisle-marking citation affirmed with reduced penalty
Heat Transfer Products used permanent aisles shared by forklifts and pedestrians at its Alabama manufacturing plant. Painted orange lines separated pedestrian routes from forklift lanes, but the markings had become severely faded or disappeared in some areas. The judge found that the standard…
Jessica Hicks dba Logs to Lumber and Beyond
Default set aside and settlement approved
OSHA issued Logs to Lumber and Beyond serious and other-than-serious citations with proposed penalties totaling $1,360. The judge entered default after the employer did not respond to a show-cause order or timely file the parties' settlement agreement. The Commission found that a single missed…
Empire Roofing Company Southeast, LLC
Aerial-lift fall protection citation affirmed
An Empire Roofing foreman and two employees used an aerial lift without tying off to the boom or basket. The foreman admitted he skipped the harness because he was in a hurry, and he knew the two employees also rode in the lift without fall protection. The Commission held that the foreman's…
Employment 2000 Corp.
Late-contest dismissal set aside for address error
Employment 2000 filed a late notice of contest after OSHA mailed its citation to an address with an incorrect ZIP code. The same incorrect ZIP code appeared on the Secretary's dismissal motion, the judge's decision, and other case notices, leaving the record unclear whether the company received or…
Longhorn Service Company
Remand to vacate Item 2A and set Item 2B penalty
The Tenth Circuit directed the Commission to vacate Citation 1, Item 2A and enter a separate penalty for Citation 1, Item 2B. The Commission sent the case back to the administrative law judge for proceedings consistent with the court's opinion.
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.