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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IMCO Services
Settlement approved for $809
IMCO Services and the Secretary jointly moved to settle a civil penalty proceeding involving the Houma Barite Plant. The proposed penalty was $809, and IMCO Services agreed to pay the full amount. Judge Roy J. Maurer found the settlement appropriate under the Mine Act's penalty criteria. He ordered…
Hobet Mining and Construction Company
Citations split and $1,380 penalty assessed
Hobet Mining and Construction Company contested citations issued at its Pine Creek No. 12 Prep Plant and No. 7 Surface Mine. In a correction to the August 6, 1985 decision, Judge James A. Broderick affirmed 12 citations, vacated six, and modified one citation to remove its…
Red Star Marine Services, Inc.
Noise citation withdrawn and case dismissed
Red Star operated tugboats and marine towing services. An administrative law judge found that an engineer aboard the tugboat Stamford was exposed to excessive engine-room noise and that Red Star lacked a continuing, effective hearing-conservation program. The judge affirmed those two items as other…
Southern Ohio Coal Company
$500 settlement approved and order modified
Southern Ohio Coal Company faced a civil penalty proceeding and a contest concerning an alleged failure to conduct a required examination at the Martinka No. 1 Mine. A miner suffered minor injuries after contacting a roof bolt and being struck by loose shale. The parties settled for the full…
Greenwich Collieries, Division of Pennsylvania Mines Corporation
Section 103(k) penalty settled for $550
Greenwich Collieries faced a civil penalty proceeding for a section 103(k) violation at its No. 1 Mine. A section foreman entered an area covered by a withdrawal order after a methane explosion, and the parties proposed reducing the $1,000 assessment to $550. Judge George A. Koutras found that…
Daneker Sand & Gravel
Ten violations settled for $132
Daneker Sand & Gravel faced ten alleged safety violations involving missing machine guards, missing first-aid equipment, and an inoperative loader backup alarm. The original assessments totaled $528, and the parties proposed a $132 settlement based on the sole proprietorship's reported financial…
Consolidation Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed for failure to respond
Chester W. Craig filed a Mine Act discrimination complaint against Consolidation Coal Company. The Commission ordered him to provide information about the complaint within 30 days or show good cause for not doing so. The order was delivered by certified mail, but Craig did not respond. Judge Paul…
Crescent Hills Coal Co., Inc.
Late discrimination complaint dismissed
Paul Krevokuch filed a discrimination complaint against Crescent Hills Coal Co., Inc. more than a year after his discharge as a mine foreman. He said at different times that he was discharged because of his age, high wages, or safety-related conduct. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. found that the…
Southwestern Illinois Coal Corp.
Remand settlement approved for $70
Southwestern Illinois Coal Corp. faced a penalty proceeding involving a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 77.1710(g) at the Captain Mine. After the Commission remanded the case for a finding on whether the violation was significant and substantial and for a penalty assessment, the parties agreed to settle…
Secretary of Labor o/b/o Eperson v. Jolene, Inc., aka Joline, Inc.
Motion to reopen denied
Joline, Inc. asked the Commission to reopen the record in a discrimination case involving Shelby Eperson. The request followed a Sixth Circuit order enforcing the Commission's earlier order granting Eperson reinstatement, back pay, interest, and expenses. The Commission held that its jurisdiction…
Alabama By-Products Corp.
Fatal-accident citations resolved through mixed settlement
Alabama By-Products Corp. faced seven contests and two civil penalty proceedings after a fatal accident involving a continuous-mining machine operator. The judge approved settlements for two citations, affirmed several citations and one imminent-danger order, and dismissed the related contests…
Ella Coal Company
Five citations affirmed and $208 assessed
Ella Coal Company, a small family-operated underground mine, conceded five alleged violations involving examination records, machine guarding, ventilation, ventilation-plan compliance, and explosive storage. Judge George A. Koutras found that the violations occurred and that the operator had…
S.M. Lorusso & Sons, Inc.
Five penalties assessed totaling $160
S.M. Lorusso & Sons, Inc. faced five citations involving excessive noise exposure and missing or damaged guards at a crushed-stone operation. Judge Paul Merlin considered the seriousness of each condition, the operator's small size, its limited prior violations, and the circumstances of employee…
E & T Trucking and Elmo Mayes
Discrimination complaints dismissed after settlement
James King, Kenneth Music, and John D. Music, Jr. brought discrimination complaints against E & T Trucking and Elmo Mayes. The parties reached a settlement during the hearings. Judge Gary Melick granted the complainants' request to withdraw their complaints under 29 C.F.R. § 2700.11. The three…
Johnie Childers Coal Company, Inc.
Four violations affirmed with $500 penalty
Johnie Childers Coal Company operated the No. 7 underground coal mine in Kentucky. Inspectors found inadequate lighting and no panic bar on a roof bolting machine, inoperable brakes on a shuttle car, and drilling without the line curtain required by the mine's ventilation plan. Judge William Fauver…
Eastern Steel Erectors, Inc.
EAJA fee claim settled for $4,330
Eastern Steel Erectors had an application pending for attorney’s fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The parties agreed to end the fee dispute without further litigation. The Department of Labor agreed to pay $4,330 without conceding that the company was entitled to fees. In…
Four Flags Drilling Company
Kelly-bushing citation withdrawn under abatement settlement
Four Flags drilled oil and gas wells and was cited for failing to guard a smooth rotary-table kelly bushing, with a proposed $300 penalty. The judge affirmed the serious item and penalty, and Commission review followed. In settlement, Four Flags agreed either to use a contact-preventing guard or to…
National Engineering & Contracting Company
Settlement approved
The Commission approved the parties’ stipulation and settlement agreement. It issued no separate explanation of the agreement or the reasons for approval. The short official release does not identify the cited standards, alleged conditions, settlement terms, abatement obligations, or penalty result.
Hahnel Brothers Co.
Roofing citation withdrawn under fall-protection agreement
Hahnel Brothers sought Commission review of an administrative law judge’s decision involving a roofing citation. In settlement, the Secretary withdrew the citation. Hahnel agreed that, during built-up roofing work on low-pitched roofs more than 16 feet above ground, it would use an MSS system or a…
Du-Mor Enterprizes, Action Utility Company, Inc., Du-Mor Drilling and Blasting
Training citation remains vacated after Commission impasse
Du-Mor used a trenching machine with a power-driven digging chain. A laborer was killed when the operator restarted the chain while the laborer was nearby, and OSHA cited Du-Mor for inadequate hazard instruction. The judge vacated the citation after crediting testimony that employees had been…
F. A. Gray, Inc.
Roof safety-belt item affirmed, scaffold item vacated
F. A. Gray employees painted a hotel exterior from a two-point suspension scaffold and from the edge of a 60-foot-high flat roof without safety belts. Both Commission members agreed to vacate the scaffold item because the employer had communicated and enforced a belt rule, supervisors inspected…
Phoenix Forging Company Division
Programmed-inspection warrant challenge rejected
Phoenix stipulated that 13 safety violations occurred but sought to suppress the inspection evidence and invalidate the warrant. It argued that the warrant exceeded the programmed-inspection plan, improperly allowed private employee interviews and record review, and relied on an unpublished OSHA…
General Motors Corporation, Rochester Products Division
Unshored-trench and training items affirmed
GM employees dug and shored a deep trench inside a manufacturing building to install an oil-collection trough. A worker was injured when an unshored wall collapsed as he used an unshored leg of the trench to leave the work area. The Commission affirmed a serious trenching violation because GM left…
Smith Steel Casting Co.
Evidence from invalid warrant admitted
OSHA inspected Smith Steel’s foundry under an ex parte warrant and cited silica, copper-fume, noise, and respirator-program conditions. The Fifth Circuit later held that the warrant was invalid under the inspection regulation then in effect and returned the case for the Commission to decide whether…
Equitable Shipyards, Inc.
Welding-respirator dispute remanded for subpoenaed testimony
OSHA cited Equitable Shipyards for inadequate mechanical ventilation and respirator protection against welding fumes. The Commission rejected Equitable’s request to suppress inspection evidence obtained under a limited warrant based on an employee complaint. It held, however, that the judge should…
Curt Bullock Builders, Inc.
Mixed guarding and grounding rulings left in place
Curt Bullock manufactured prefabricated garages and was cited over an unguarded storage surface, an unguarded conveyor chain and sprocket, circular saws with lower guards wired back, and ungrounded employee-owned equipment. The judge treated the storage-surface item as de minimis and the…
Thermal Reduction Corporation
Willful refusal to produce injury log affirmed
During a warranted OSHA inspection, Thermal Reduction’s vice president twice refused to provide the company’s OSHA Form 200 injury and illness log unless the inspector promised that no disclosed information would ever be used against the company. The Commission held that the Act and recordkeeping…
Hayes-Albion Corporation
Molten-metal explosion citation remains vacated
A fire in Hayes-Albion’s iron foundry required water to be sprayed into exhaust ductwork, and the water drained onto the floor near molten-metal operations. OSHA alleged a willful general duty clause violation based on the risk that molten metal could encapsulate water and cause an explosion. The…
J.L. Foti Construction Co., Inc.
Three construction items affirmed, one vacated
J.L. Foti performed masonry work as a subcontractor on a hospital project and objected when OSHA inspected its enclosed elevator-shaft work area without a warrant. The general contractor consented to the inspection, but the two Commission members divided on whether that consent overrode Foti’s…
Davis Metal Stamping, Inc.
Evidence admitted despite invalid ex parte warrant
OSHA obtained an ex parte warrant to inspect Davis Metal’s plant after company officers refused entry and stated that mechanical power presses were unguarded. Applying Fifth Circuit precedent, the Commission treated the warrant as invalid under OSHA’s inspection regulation then in effect. It…
Kut-Kwick Corporation
EAJA fee claim settled for $6,500
Kut-Kwick had an application pending for attorney’s fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The parties settled the entire fee claim without further litigation. The Department of Labor agreed to pay $6,500 without conceding that Kut-Kwick was legally entitled to fees. In exchange…
City Oil Well Service Co.
Respirator citations left vacated after Commission impasse
Two City Oil Well Service employees died during swabbing work at an oil well where later testing found hydrogen sulfide at 225 parts per million. City relied on well operators to identify hydrogen-sulfide hazards and supply respirators, and it made no inquiry or respiratory-protection plan of its…
B.G. Danis Company
Trench-sloping citation remains vacated
B.G. Danis employees installed pipe in a roughly nine-foot-deep trench dug through a mixture of sand, gravel, silt, and clay. OSHA alleged a willful violation because the trench walls were not sloped adequately for soft or unstable soil. The judge vacated the citation based on soil testing, expert…
Vac-Air Alloys Corporation
Shear-guarding settlement cuts penalty to $150
Vac-Air processed and cut metal using six hydraulic shears that OSHA cited for unguarded points of operation. The judge affirmed the serious violation and proposed $360 penalty. In settlement, Vac-Air agreed to install an adjustable barrier guard on one shear and use that guarded machine for stock…
Schulte Corporation
Three electroplating-protection violations affirmed
Schulte manufactured bathroom fixtures and finished them in electroplating tanks containing corrosive chemical solutions. The Commission affirmed a nonserious violation because employees exposed to chromic acid received no periodic examinations after their pre-employment physicals. It also affirmed…
Metal Bank of America, Inc.
Lead-standard case settled for $2,500
OSHA cited Metal Bank for serious violations of the lead standard and proposed a $4,280 penalty. An earlier stipulation withdrew parts of the citation and reduced the proposed penalty for the remaining items to $3,000. Under the final settlement, Metal Bank withdrew its contest and petition for…
PPG Industries, Inc., Industrial Chemical Division
Undercharged SCBA item reduced to de minimis
PPG kept self-contained breathing apparatuses for trained employees performing shutdown or repair work during chemical leaks and other emergencies. OSHA found six cylinders charged to 1,850 or 1,900 psi instead of the manufacturer’s full-charge specification of 2,015 psi plus a permitted…
Mobay Chemical Corporation
Undercharged breathing-apparatus citation remains vacated
Mobay manufactured chemicals and maintained self-contained breathing apparatuses throughout a plant that used highly toxic substances. OSHA found four departmental units that were not fully charged and proposed a $350 serious penalty, although the rescue-team units and employees’ escape respirators…
Austin Engineering Company, Inc.
Crane and trenching violations affirmed
Austin Engineering installed a water main in a deep trench using a truck crane. The Commission reversed the judge and found a nonserious fire-extinguisher violation because extinguishers on pickup trucks about 100 feet away were not available at the crane cab as the standard required; it assessed…
Stripe-A-Zone, Inc.
Traffic-safety case remanded for findings and a merits hearing
Stripe-A-Zone installed ceramic traffic buttons and stripes on a federally funded Texas highway project. OSHA issued four citations concerning traffic-control procedures, practices, and training. The company argued that Department of Transportation authority displaced OSHA jurisdiction, and the…
ITT Grinnell Corp.
Court-remanded case returned for additional evidence
The Third Circuit returned ITT Grinnell’s case to the Commission. The Commission then remanded it to the chief administrative law judge for reassignment. The assigned judge was directed to let the parties present additional evidence on the issues covered by the court’s order and to conduct any…
Sun Ship, Inc.
Record-disclosure citations vacated as untimely
Sun Ship built and repaired ships and provided its union with OSHA injury and illness logs after deleting employee names under its confidentiality policy. It later refused to provide complete records to OSHA unless the agency signed a nondisclosure agreement. The judge found two willful…
Concrete Construction Co., Inc.
Backhoe power-line violations affirmed for $500
Concrete Construction used a backhoe to lay large pipe beneath energized power lines. The backhoe’s knuckle joint contacted a 7,620-volt line while an employee assigned to watch clearance was also steadying the pipe, and the employee was electrocuted. The Commission held that the crane…
Austin Bridge Company
Cable-guardrail citation vacated
Austin Bridge installed cable guardrails along an elevated highway exit ramp while a concrete-finishing screed moved along the deck. OSHA alleged that the cables deflected six to eight inches under less than 200 pounds of pressure, exceeding the standard’s requirement for minimum deflection. The…
Westdale, Inc.
Review dismissed after company failed to brief
An administrative law judge affirmed a citation against Westdale after a hearing. Westdale petitioned for Commission review, and the Commission granted review and ordered briefing. The company did not file a brief, did not state that it would decline briefing, and did not respond to a later…
Bridge Builders, Inc.
Citation withdrawn during Commission review
Bridge Builders obtained Commission review of its case, and the Commission issued a briefing notice. After further review, the Secretary concluded that continued litigation was not warranted and filed a notice withdrawing the citation. The Commission treated that notice as a motion and granted it…
New England Container Company, Inc.
Valve item affirmed, noise items vacated
New England reconditioned used 55-gallon drums and operated a noisy blasting machine. The judge affirmed an other-than-serious, no-penalty violation because drums of flammable liquid lacked self-closing valves after installed valves broke and replacements were ordered. Chairman Buckley agreed that…
Schiavone Construction Company
Cord and underground-fire items reduced to de minimis
Schiavone was the prime contractor on a cut-and-cover subway-station project. The Commission found a de minimis extension-cord violation because heavy-duty cords lay near lumber with protruding nails, but the chance of insulation damage and injury was remote. The members divided on whether the…
Robert K. Bell Enterprises
Amusement-park guarding case remanded after evidence admitted
Bell operated an amusement park where OSHA cited unguarded pulleys and belts on the Scrambler ride. An administrative law judge invalidated the inspection warrant, suppressed the inspection evidence, and vacated the citation for lack of proof that Bell affected interstate commerce. The Commission…
Barretto Granite Corporation
Late written contest accepted for a merits hearing
OSHA issued two repeated citations to Barretto Granite. Acting without counsel, the company disputed the citations at an informal conference held within the 15-working-day contest period. It sent letters confirming that dispute after the deadline, and the judge treated the letters as the notice of…
Gates & Fox Company, Inc.
Two willful findings reversed and penalties reduced
Gates & Fox was a subcontractor building part of the Washington, D.C., subway system. The judge found willful violations because a truck crane operated within ten feet of a 4,000-volt line and because self-rescuers were not provided in a tunnel area without an advancing face. The Commission members…
Beauty Craft Tile of the Southwest, Inc.
Suppression reversed and citations remanded
OSHA obtained a warrant to inspect Beauty Craft's Oklahoma plant after complaints about removed machine safeguards and inadequate paint-shop ventilation. The judge suppressed the inspection evidence as the product of an overbroad warrant and then vacated the resulting serious and nonserious…
Asbestos Textile Company, Inc.
Asbestos violations affirmed but willful claims rejected or deadlocked
Asbestos Textile processed raw asbestos in a rubber-products plant. OSHA cited exposure-limit, dust-control, monitoring, respirator, protective-clothing, housekeeping, locker, and medical-examination issues under the asbestos standard. The Commissioners agreed that the respirator, clothing…
Con-Agra, Inc.
Direction for review vacated at employee representative's request
The authorized employee representative sent a letter indicating that there might be no party interest in further adjudication of Con-Agra's case. The Commission treated the letter as a motion to vacate its direction for review and granted that motion. The order would become final after ten days…
Carpenter Technology Corp.
Review vacated after forklift-standard deadlock
Carpenter Technology used a large forklift to carry slag pots through parts of its steel plant where employees sometimes walked. OSHA cited the company under the powered-industrial-truck rule requiring a driver to keep a clear view of the path of travel. The judge vacated the citation after…
Collins Well Service Company
General duty citation affirmed after Commission deadlock
OSHA investigated Collins Well Service after an employee suffered a fatal fall while riding an oil-derrick elevator without a tied-off safety belt. The judge found that this was a recognized hazard likely to cause death or serious harm, affirmed a general duty clause violation, and assessed a $480…
Palmer Steel Supplies, Inc.
Direction for review vacated after Secretary withdrew petition
The Secretary filed a notice concerning the petition for discretionary review in Palmer Steel Supplies' case. The Commission treated the notice as a motion to withdraw that petition. It granted the motion and vacated the direction for review. The order does not identify a cited OSHA standard…
General American Transportation Corporation
Five citation items left affirmed after deadlock
The judge affirmed citation items involving combustible material near oxygen storage, paint-spill cleanup, paint-residue accumulations, damaged crane slings, and machine guarding at General American Transportation's plant. Commissioner Cleary would have affirmed each item based on the cited…
Lewis & Lambert Metal Contractors, Inc.
Electrical item affirmed and guardrail items vacated
Lewis & Lambert was a sheet-metal subcontractor at a building project in Fort Worth, Texas. The Commission affirmed a ground-fault-protection violation because the company could have installed a portable ground-fault circuit interrupter for its employees' electric tools. It vacated three guardrail…
Elmer Construction Corporation
Late contest accepted and case remanded for a merits hearing
OSHA cited Elmer Construction Corporation for two serious violations and proposed a $320 penalty. Elmer paid the penalty, but its newly retained attorney called OSHA and said the company wanted to contest the violations. The Commission found that the conversation was confusing and may have led 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.