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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A. Friederich & Sons Company
Backfill excavation violation affirmed
A. Friederich & Sons excavated beside previously filled or backfilled soil while constructing an addition at a laboratory. The excavation face was sloped about 70 to 80 degrees and had no shoring or other support while employees used pneumatic breakers next to it. A section of the face collapsed…
The Austin Co., Inc.
Scaffold and ladder violations affirmed
The Austin Company was constructing a hospital addition where two employees worked from a suspension scaffold without safety belts or lifelines. Two other employees worked on a 12-foot scaffold without guardrails. The judge treated those conditions as a serious violation and assessed $550. He…
Universal Sheet Metal Corp.
Exterior-shaft railing citation vacated
Universal Sheet Metal installed ductwork in exterior shafts of a multistory hospital addition. After an employee fell from the 21st level and died, OSHA cited the company for failing to guard an open-sided triangular floor area at the building corner. The Commission found that a standard railing…
Martin Iron Works, Inc.
Open-floor citation vacated for lack of employee exposure
Martin Iron Works removed a 4-by-8-foot steel plate from a stairway platform about 170 feet above the basement floor at a construction site. The removal left an unguarded opening, and employees of another subcontractor worked nearby. Martin's own employees were not exposed and had no reason to…
VEPCO, Mount Storm Power Station
Mischaracterized abatement petition dismissed
OSHA cited VEPCO's Mount Storm Power Station for employee exposure to dust and requested an abatement plan. VEPCO submitted administrative controls for immediate protection and a longer-term engineering program, while maintaining that the administrative measures already achieved compliance. An OSHA…
Puterbaugh Enterprises, Inc.
Trench and recordkeeping violations affirmed
Puterbaugh Enterprises laid sewer pipe in a trench about ten feet deep and two feet wide with vertical walls and no shoring, bracing, sheeting, or sloping. The trench caved in and killed an employee who had returned to resume pipe-laying work. The Commission affirmed the serious trench violation…
United States Steel International, Ltd.
Amended citation accepted and contest withdrawn
A judge dismissed the citation because it had been issued 52 calendar days after inspection. Immediately before the dismissal order arrived, however, the parties had resolved the case. The Secretary amended the complaint to allege a violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.50(c) with a $155 penalty, and…
Robert J. Lzicar
Floor, saw, and electrical violations affirmed
Robert J. Lzicar performed carpentry, steel framing, and concrete work at a large construction project. Employees worked near the unguarded edge of a partially completed second floor 22 feet above the surface below, and two saws lacked required blade guards. The judge affirmed those three serious…
Johnson Brothers Sawmill
Late abatement extension granted for good cause
Johnson Brothers Sawmill received 18 citation items and sought more time to complete sanitation and electrical work after correcting the other 13. The employer had borrowed $6,500 through the Small Business Administration for abatement and showed that weather, plumber availability, and delayed…
Verne-Woodrow Company
Citation affirmed after court remand
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit remanded this matter to the Commission. Following the court's order, the Commission affirmed the Secretary's citation and proposed penalty. This brief release does not identify the cited standard, the underlying workplace facts, or the…
Cadillac Malleable Iron Company
Carbon-monoxide penalty reduced to $200
Cadillac Malleable Iron produced iron goods at a plant where a weight-shifting employee was exposed to carbon monoxide above 150 parts per million for more than an hour. The judge found the violation serious because the exposure could impair vision and coordination, increase accident risk, and…
Frohlick Crane Service
Leased-crane violation and citation items affirmed
Frohlick Crane Service leased a crane and operator to an elevator subcontractor at a construction site. The crane contacted an uninsulated 7,620-volt power line, and a laborer employed by another company was electrocuted. The Commission held that the operator remained Frohlick's employee because…
St. Mary's Cotton Mill, Division of Leshner Corporation
Nineteen plant violations affirmed
St. Mary's Cotton Mill admitted 19 nonserious conditions involving compressed air, machine guards, fire extinguishers, electrical grounding, exits, floor openings, storage, housekeeping, and other plant equipment. OSHA proposed penalties on ten of the items, totaling $375, and no penalties on the…
Langer Roofing and Sheet Metal, Inc.
Flat-roof perimeter violation affirmed
Langer Roofing employees worked near the unguarded edge of a flat roof about 20 feet above the ground. The Commission held that the open-sided-floor standard applies to flat roofs and affirmed the violation. A low parapet provided some protection, so the violation's gravity was low to moderate, and…
Fort Hill Lumber Company
Three failure-to-abate items affirmed
Fort Hill Lumber received a failure-to-abate notice covering nine earlier sawmill violations with more than $16,000 in proposed additional penalties, plus a new lumber-carrier brake citation. On review, the Secretary withdrew five items for lack of proof, and the Commission also left other…
Vy Lactos Laboratories, Inc.
Withdrawal leaves citation and penalty affirmed
Vy Lactos used proteinaceous fish solubles in its manufacturing process, and the case concerned a recognized hazard from hydrogen sulfide accumulation. The Eighth Circuit remanded because the record did not conclusively establish whether the company had actual knowledge of the hazard. On remand, Vy…
Nibco of Colorado Division, Nibco, Inc.
Three nonserious items affirmed with $35 penalty
Nibco manufactured plumbing fittings and contested several nonserious items involving cranes, electrical wiring, machinery, welding equipment, and personal protective equipment. The Commission vacated the rope-sling item because the cited rule required inspection and a hazard determination, and the…
W. B. Meredith II, Inc.
One contested item affirmed and others vacated
W. B. Meredith II was a general construction contractor building a five-story reinforced concrete building. OSHA issued three serious and fourteen non-serious citation items with $1,750 in proposed penalties. The Commission upheld the judge's vacatur of the contested electrical-box, guardrail…
Chicago Bridge & Iron Co.
Safety-belt citation vacated for lack of proof
Chicago Bridge & Iron erected steel plate structures and was installing a water tank when an employee fell from an elevation. OSHA cited the company under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.28(a) for allegedly exposing an employee to a fall without appropriate personal protective equipment. The judge found a…
Southern Contractors Service
Citation and penalty affirmed on remand
The Fifth Circuit remanded this matter to the Commission. Acting in accordance with the court's order, the Commission affirmed the Secretary's citation and proposed penalty. The brief release does not identify the cited standard, the underlying conditions, or the penalty amount.
Southern Contractors Service
Citation and penalty affirmed on remand
The Fifth Circuit remanded this matter to the Commission. Acting in accordance with the court's order, the Commission affirmed the Secretary's citation and proposed penalty. The brief release does not identify the cited standard, the underlying conditions, or the penalty amount.
Stokes Construction Co.
Trenching case remanded for a merits decision
OSHA cited Stokes Construction for three non-serious trenching and shoring violations under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.652 and proposed $360 in penalties. The inspection followed a trench accident in which two employees were injured and one apparently died. The judge vacated the citation because it was…
Stack Construction Co.
$650 general-duty penalty affirmed
Stack Construction was installing a drainage culvert and concrete storm-sewer pipe. The judge found recognized hazards from an unguarded haul road beside an excavation and from moving a one-ton pipe section over employees in a trench. An employee operating a front-end loader had died after the…
Joseph Bucheit and Sons Co. & A.P. O'Horo Co., Inc.
Gas-line excavation citations vacated
Joseph Bucheit and Sons was a bridge subcontractor, and A.P. O'Horo was the general contractor on a highway project. A bulldozer ruptured an underground gas line during abutment excavation, causing an explosion that killed two workers and injured others. The judge held that 29 C.F.R. § 1926.651(a)…
R. H. Bishop Co.
Unguarded-light and grinder penalties assessed
R. H. Bishop was the heating and plumbing subcontractor on a dormitory project at Chanute Air Force Base. The Commission affirmed an unguarded-temporary-light violation because Bishop's employees were exposed, even though another contractor installed and controlled the lighting. It also affirmed an…
Accu-Namics, Inc.
Serious trench-protection violation affirmed
Accu-Namics installed underground water and sewer pipe in a trench that reached 24 feet deep. Its trench shield extended only 14 feet below ground, leaving about 10 feet of trench wall unprotected, and a cave-in killed four employees. The judge vacated the citation because the compliance officer…
Mallory Electric Company
Cases remanded and consolidated
A judge had vacated the Secretary's citation and proposed penalty because no complaint was filed within the time required by Commission Rule 33(a)(1). The Commission then remanded the matter and consolidated OSHRC Docket Nos. 6349 and 6396. The brief release does not identify the cited safety…
California Stevedore & Ballast Co.
Unguarded-winch citation affirmed
California Stevedore employees were discharging cargo aboard the S.S. Hastings using ship-owned steam winches with partially unguarded drive wheels. The Commission held that Coast Guard regulations did not displace OSHA jurisdiction over longshoremen's working conditions. It also rejected the…
Automotive Products Corp.
Fourteen non-serious items affirmed
Automotive Products manufactured universal joints, drive shafts, and other metal products. OSHA cited sixteen non-serious conditions involving machinery, facilities, posting, and injury records. The judge affirmed fourteen items and their proposed penalties, totaling $330, but dismissed the…
F. H. Von Damm, Inc.
Three non-serious items and $35 penalty affirmed
F. H. Von Damm was a small wholesaler of animal feed, seeds, and agricultural supplies. The judge affirmed violations for failing to post the OSHA notice, failing to inspect two fire extinguishers annually, and lacking a maintenance tag on another extinguisher. He assessed $35 for the…
General Electric Company
Abatement petition reinstated and remanded
General Electric petitioned to modify an abatement deadline after thirteen non-serious citation items had become final orders. The judge dismissed the petition on the ground that the Commission lacked jurisdiction. The Commission reversed, holding that its rules and precedent authorize it to decide…
Allan Electric Co., Inc.
Non-serious settlement and $300 penalty affirmed
OSHA cited Allan Electric under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.400(c)(1) as a serious violation and proposed a $600 penalty. In settlement, the Secretary reclassified the item as non-serious and reduced the penalty to $300, and the employer withdrew its contest after stating that the violation was abated…
Cape & Vineyard Div., New Bedford Gas & Edison Light Co.
Electrical PPE violation affirmed
Cape & Vineyard was an electric utility whose line crew was installing transformers on a utility pole. A lineman was electrocuted after contacting an uncovered energized 2,400-volt wire or clamp while also contacting a grounded transformer. The judge found that the foreman knew the conductor was…
Smoke-Craft, Inc.
Sausage-cutting PPE citation vacated
Smoke-Craft manufactured beef jerky and sausage and used a hand-held reciprocating saw to cut long sausages. An employee held the sausage with a bare hand about one to one-and-a-half inches from the blade during end cuts. The Commission acknowledged a cutting hazard but vacated the…
Hawkins Construction Co.
Excavation citation vacated for lack of employee exposure
Hawkins Construction was the general contractor on an industrial-park project and had excavated an area for sewer work. The excavation was not properly sloped and excavated material was stored too close to its edge, but only a subcontractor's employees were present when OSHA inspected. The…
Delmas H. Smith
Employee abatement-date contest dismissed after withdrawal
An amended non-serious citation alleged that employees were exposed to hydrogen chloride above the ceiling limit in a furnace building. OSHA proposed no penalty and required a long-term abatement plan, with engineering or administrative controls to be completed by June 4, 1974. Employee contestant…
W. C. Sivers Co.
Floor-hole citation conditionally affirmed without penalty
W. C. Sivers had uncovered pipe-sleeve holes ranging from four to twelve inches in a building under construction while workers installed pipe from below. After remand, the judge relied on an informal conference and stated that the employer conceded a person could accidentally step into a…
Lipsky & Rosenthal, Inc.
Sixth-floor guardrail item reduced to non-serious
Lipsky & Rosenthal was a plumbing subcontractor on an apartment construction project. Three employees hauled plumbing materials while standing at the unguarded edge of a sixth floor. The Secretary charged that condition as non-serious, but the judge classified it as serious and assessed $250. The…
Bettendorf Terminal Co. & Le Claire Quarries, Inc.
OSHA jurisdiction and $370 affirmed
Le Claire Quarries employees unloaded, dewatered, stored, and sold river sand at property owned by Bettendorf Terminal. The companies argued that the Federal Metal and Non-Metallic Mine Safety Act displaced OSHA jurisdiction. The Commission rejected that defense because the terminal was ten miles…
Humphreys & Harding, Inc.
Serious fall-hazard citations vacated for lack of exposure
Humphreys & Harding managed construction of a seventeen-story building and had contract responsibility for guardrails and debris removal. OSHA cited unguarded floor perimeters, material-hoist entrances, and elevator shafts as serious violations. The Commission affirmed vacatur because the Secretary…
Southeast Contractors, Inc.
Serious backing-truck violation affirmed
Southeast Contractors was a paving subcontractor that hired a trucking company to deliver hot asphalt. A dump trailer with an obstructed rear view continued backing after an observer stopped signaling and fatally struck a Southeast employee. The Commission held that an ordinary air horn was not a…
Gindy Manufacturing Co.
Abatement petition reinstated and remanded
Gindy Manufacturing filed a petition to modify an abatement requirement after an uncontested citation became a final order. The judge dismissed the petition on the ground that only the Secretary of Labor could decide it and denied an employee representative's intervention request as moot. The…
New Haven Foundry
Abatement petition reinstated and remanded
New Haven Foundry filed a petition to modify an abatement requirement after a citation became a final order. The judge dismissed the petition on the ground that the Commission lacked jurisdiction over employer abatement-modification petitions. The Commission reversed under its rules and precedent…
Continental Steel Corporation
Abatement petition reinstated and remanded
Continental Steel filed a petition to modify an abatement requirement after a citation had become a final order. The underlying cited item concerned exposed live electrical parts on two cranes under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.179(g)(2)(i). The judge dismissed the petition on the ground that the Commission…
Transcon Lines, Inc.
Maintenance-pit and excessive-noise violations affirmed
Transcon Lines operated truck-maintenance facilities with six vehicle pits that were periodically left uncovered and had no guardrails. Employees in a fuel-tank repair area were also exposed for an hour a day to noise measured at 124 and 128 decibels. The company supplied hearing protection but…
Angel Construction Co., Inc.
Stairway penalty restored in mixed construction case
Angel Construction was the prime contractor for a multi-building office complex. The judge affirmed eight non-serious violations involving housekeeping, ladders, fuel handling, stairways, elevator openings, a material hoist, and head protection, while dismissing two scaffold and…
Sigman Meat Co.
Stair and sanitation items restored under OSHA jurisdiction
Sigman Meat operated a pork slaughterhouse and contested multiple non-serious safety and health items. The judge affirmed four of nine disputed items, vacated five, and assessed $117. The Commission held that Department of Agriculture meat-inspection rules did not displace OSHA jurisdiction over…
Newspaper Agency Corp.
Withdrawal affirmed after workplace posting
Newspaper Agency contested an amended citation and proposed penalty, then moved to withdraw its contest. The employer had previously notified two unions about the case and posted the withdrawal request at the workplace. Neither union had elected party status. The Commission held that workplace…
Biltrite Fixture Co., Inc.
Failure-to-abate penalty set at $750
Biltrite manufactured store fixtures and failed to abate six non-serious electrical, welding, fire-extinguisher, and housekeeping violations by the stated deadline. OSHA proposed $2,465 in additional daily penalties, and the company corrected the remaining conditions the day after reinspection. The…
Hoffman Electric Co.
Floor-opening and perimeter citations affirmed
Hoffman Electric performed electrical construction in buildings with unguarded floor openings and open-sided floors. Its employees used elevator-shaft ladderways and worked where materials were moved along the outside of the building. The judge held that the subcontractor remained responsible for…
Plastering, Inc.
Serious roof-opening violation and $650 affirmed
Plastering employees installed draft stops beneath a convention-center roof about sixty feet above the floor. Four employees worked on the roof and stepped over an unguarded opening created by removal of a large steel deck plate, and the company knew the openings existed. Another worker who was not…
McDevitt & Street Co.
Material-hoist violation reclassified as serious
McDevitt & Street was the general contractor on a construction project using an unenclosed material-hoist platform about twelve to fourteen feet above ground. A subcontractor employee had died after falling from the platform the day before OSHA inspected, and an employee of McDevitt & Street was…
Losli, Inc.
$100 power-shear guarding penalty affirmed
Losli operated a sheet-metal fabrication plant with a twelve-foot Wysong shear. The point-of-operation guard had an opening that did not prevent employees' fingers from entering the cutting area. The employer contested only the proposed $550 penalty and repeatedly admitted the violation. The judge…
Getter Trucking, Inc.
General duty citation vacated for lack of feasible measures
Getter Trucking helped recover a derailed locomotive using winch trucks and wire-rope cables. A cable caught under a crawler tractor became taut and snapped free, striking an employee who later died. OSHA alleged that the company failed to keep employees away from the cable under tension. The judge…
Straight Creek Constructors
Unsafe tunnel access upheld, two other items dismissed
Straight Creek Constructors was working at the Straight Creek Tunnel when OSHA cited three nonserious violations involving access routes, a cracked hydrocrane window, and welding-arc shielding. The Commission found that a narrow tunnel ramp was unsafe because the company's procedures did not…
Eastern Knitting Mills, Inc.
Employer's abatement letter treated as a contest
OSHA cited Eastern Knitting Mills for 12 nonserious violations and proposed $400 in penalties. Within the statutory contest period, the company wrote that it had corrected or was correcting all items except item 10 and asked for help because it did not know how to meet that item's abatement…
Lee Way Motor Freight, Inc.
Open service-pit citation restored
Lee Way Motor Freight operated four long vehicle-service pits without covers or guardrails. Mechanics worked around and stepped over the pits, and the surrounding floor could become wet with oil, ice, snow, or rainwater. The judge vacated that item because the accident risk appeared low, but the…
H-E Lowdermilk Company
Backup observer and cylinder violations upheld
H-E Lowdermilk Company was building a Colorado highway when OSHA cited six construction-safety violations. The Commission found that trucks with obstructed rear views lacked alarms and were backed while bulldozer operators assigned as observers were not always free to watch and signal, so it…
James E. Roberts Company and Soule Steel Company
Subcontractor liable for crane power-line hazard
James E. Roberts Company was the general contractor for a hospital addition, and Soule Steel Company was the reinforcing-steel subcontractor. A crane working near uninsulated 12,000-volt lines contacted the lines while a Soule employee guided suspended reinforcing steel, and the employee was…
J.E. Roupp & Company, Inc. and Denver Dry Wall Company
Drywall fall violations upheld
J.E. Roupp was the general contractor for an apartment-building project, and Denver Dry Wall was a subcontractor. A Denver Dry Wall employee was killed after stored railings fell and pushed him from an unguarded fourth-floor balcony, and another employee used a stairway without handrails or…
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.