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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Heyse Sheet Metal & Roofing Co., Inc.
Roof guardrail and access violations affirmed
Heyse Sheet Metal employees installed a virtually flat roof about 30 feet above the ground without perimeter railings and used a material-hoist frame instead of a ladder for access. The judge affirmed the ladder-access violation with a $500 penalty but vacated the roof-edge item. The Commission…
S. D. Mullins Company, Inc. and Diamond Roofing Company, Inc.
Flat-roof guardrail violations affirmed
Employees of S. D. Mullins and Diamond Roofing worked on an unguarded flat roof about 25 feet above the ground. The judge vacated both roof-edge citations because he concluded that the open-sided-floor standard did not cover roofs. The Commission reversed, holding that a flat roof on which…
Hersman Construction Co.
Three guarding violations affirmed and failure-to-abate penalties rejected
Hersman Construction received citations covering fall protection, floor and stair guarding, debris disposal, citation posting, and housekeeping at a building project. The judge found that OSHA proved only two open-sided-floor guarding violations and one inadequately covered floor opening. He…
Rogge Lumber Sales, Inc.
Posting and failure-to-abate penalties affirmed
Rogge Lumber failed to post an earlier uncontested citation and did not timely correct three items involving drinking water, toilet facilities, and a walkway near a gang trimmer. The judge rejected OSHA's mechanically calculated proposals because they imposed fixed minimums without proper…
Gerry Division of Outdoor Sports Industries, Inc.
Machine-guarding items affirmed and rivet-machine item vacated
Gerry manufactured outdoor equipment and apparel using industrial sewing machines, a rivet machine, and an abrasive grinder. The company admitted four items involving compressed-air cleaning, stair railings, fan guarding, and a separate rivet-machine guarding condition, with a single $30 penalty…
Milprint, Inc.
Fixed-stair item vacated for lack of proof
OSHA issued Milprint 13 non-serious citation items covering conditions at its Milwaukee plant. The judge affirmed nine items and vacated four, assessing penalties totaling $280. On review, the Commission reversed the fixed-stair item because OSHA did not prove that employees regularly used the…
Arizona Public Service Co.
Transformer-work citations vacated
Arizona Public Service employees worked around energized lightning arresters while repositioning lifting equipment above a transformer. An experienced journeyman electrician contacted an arrester and was killed after disregarding known clearance rules. The judge found no violation based on his…
Gurney Manufacturing Division, Gurney Industries, Inc.
Withdrawal dispute remanded for further proceedings
Gurney Manufacturing contested a citation under section 1910.93(a)(2) and later moved to withdraw its notice of contest. A judge granted withdrawal, but the employee representative had opposed the motion, and the Commission directed review. After remand, the judge dismissed further proceedings on…
Associated Meat Packers, Inc.
Meat-saw guarding citation vacated with prejudice
Associated Meat Packers was cited for allegedly inadequate guarding on three circular meat-cutting saws at its Portland abattoir. The judge approved a settlement affirming the serious citation and $550 penalty while extending abatement to allow time for a variance request. On review, the Secretary…
W.W. Arnold Construction Co., Inc.
Contest reinstated after complaint-service issue
A Commission judge dismissed W.W. Arnold Construction's notice of contest because the company had not answered the Secretary's complaint. The company stated that it never received a copy of the complaint. The Commission directed review, reinstated the case, and gave the company 15 days after…
Genco, Inc.
Construction citation vacated after inspection violations
OSHA issued Genco a 13-item non-serious citation after inspecting its construction work at Honolulu International Airport. The judge vacated the citation because the compliance officer began the inspection before presenting credentials to the owner, operator, or agent in charge as required by the…
Apex Paper Box Co.
Fire-extinguisher inspection item vacated
OSHA issued Apex Paper Box 19 non-serious citation items covering fire protection, electrical conditions, exits, housekeeping, industrial trucks, records, and first aid. The judge affirmed all 19 items and assessed penalties totaling $731.25. The Commission vacated only the fire-extinguisher…
Gilles & Cotting, Inc.
General contractor scaffold citation vacated
Gilles & Cotting was the general contractor on a construction project where a scaffold used and controlled by a glass subcontractor collapsed, killing two subcontractor employees. OSHA cited the general contractor under three scaffold standards because it controlled the jobsite and other…
Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Specific crane violation affirmed
Sun Shipbuilding was cited after employees used a crane and a non-locking clamp to move a 40-foot angle beam, which slipped and struck an employee. OSHA alleged both a general-duty violation and a violation of the specific crane standard governing secure and balanced loads. The Commission dismissed…
Container Corporation of America
Withdrawal order corrected
Container Corporation of America contested four non-serious citation items and their proposed penalties. The Secretary later withdrew two items, and the employer withdrew its contest of the other two after the parties agreed to extend one abatement date. The judge approved the stipulation but did…
Boston Elevator and Machine Company
Serious citation affirmed
Boston Elevator and Machine Company contested a serious citation, a non-serious citation, and their proposed penalties. The Secretary amended the serious citation to allege a general-duty violation and withdrew the proposed penalty for the non-serious item. The employer later withdrew its contest…
Albert and Maguire Securities Company, Inc.
Toilet-facility citation dismissed
Albert and Maguire Securities operated a stock brokerage office with male and female employees and one toilet in its leased space. Women employees customarily used public restrooms in a department store about 50 feet away in the same shopping center. OSHA cited the company for not providing…
Louis P. Anesi d/b/a Anesi Packing Company
Contest reinstated
Louis P. Anesi, representing himself, did not file a formal answer to the Secretary's complaint. The judge dismissed his notice of contest and affirmed the citation and proposed penalties. The Commission found that Anesi had timely sent the Secretary a letter denying every citation identified in…
Keystone Forging Company
Letter treated as notice of contest
Keystone Forging sent a June 1 letter concerning a non-serious citation and requested additional time to abate several items. Earlier orders treated the letter as an abatement-extension request. The Commission instead treated the letter as a notice of contest under section 10(a) of the Act. It…
Driscoll Construction Company, Inc.
Lanyard violation affirmed
Driscoll Construction was performing sewer reconstruction in a deep trench where employees used 40-foot safety-belt lanyards. During demolition of a sewer arch, two employees had not shortened or connected their lanyards to limit a fall to six feet, and one employee fell and was fatally injured…
California Stevedore and Ballast Company
Two longshoring citations affirmed
California Stevedore employees worked cargo aboard two vessels under an unsecured 1,000-pound hatch beam, with open-ended hatch-beam hooks, and on narrow ledges without handlines or grab rails. The Commission amended the unsecured-beam citation to allege a serious violation, affirmed it, and…
Lake Butler Apparel Company
Electrical-grounding penalty restored
Lake Butler Apparel manufactured clothing and continuously used six ungrounded portable electrical tools or appliances. The judge affirmed the electrical-grounding, fire-extinguisher color, and OSHA-notice posting violations, but vacated a grinder work-rest item for lack of factual proof. The judge…
Tacoma Boatbuilding Company, Inc.
Six shipyard violations affirmed
Tacoma Boatbuilding employees worked in fish tanks aboard two vessels on staging without required rails, on single planks instead of double planks, and with unattended oxygen and acetylene hoses left connected at the cylinders. The Commission treated the same condition on each vessel as a separate…
Globe Union, Inc.
Abatement order set aside while employer contest remained pending
OSHA cited Globe Union for excessive employee exposure to lead and alleged failures to use feasible controls and respirators. The employee representative contested the abatement period, while the employer separately contested the citation and proposed penalty. The union later moved to withdraw its…
Hi-Fi Carpet Mills, Inc.
Late contest rejected
OSHA cited Hi-Fi Carpet Mills for eight non-serious conditions involving electrical grounding, compressed air, exits, access to electrical controls, housekeeping, and flexible wiring. The company received the citation and proposed penalties on January 19, 1972, making February 9 the final day to…
Baroco Industries, Inc.
Withdrawal made conditional
Baroco Industries asked to withdraw its notice of contest, and the Secretary did not object. The judge granted the request and affirmed the citation and $150 in proposed penalties. The Commission found that the record did not show abatement, penalty tender, an opportunity for affected employees to…
St. Louis County Water Company
Penalties reduced to $450
St. Louis County Water Company was cited for 32 non-serious violations at five facilities, including electrical, stairway, housekeeping, flammable-liquid, compressed-gas, welding, equipment, ladder, and protective-equipment conditions. The company stopped contesting the violations and abatement…
Ventre Packing Co., Inc.
Citation vacated because the cooler top was not a platform
Ventre Packing used the top of an eight-to-nine-foot walk-in cooler extension to store pieces of a disassembled metal frame. OSHA cited the company because the elevated surface lacked perimeter guardrails, and the administrative law judge affirmed the citation with a $25 penalty. The Commission…
Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Crossett Division
Respirator violation affirmed and ventilation item vacated
Georgia-Pacific manufactured plywood, paper, and particle board at a plant where employees periodically inspected a chlorine dioxide generator. OSHA alleged that employees entered the generator area without required protective equipment and that the area lacked ventilation required for bleach…
Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation
Contested pit citation affirmed after withdrawal
Kaiser Aluminum received a two-item citation for other-than-serious violations, including unguarded pits and a powered-industrial-truck condition. The company contested only Item 1(b), which concerned eight unguarded pits and carried an amended $40 penalty. Kaiser later moved to withdraw that…
Delta Tank Manufacturing Company, Inc.
Some abatement extensions granted
Delta Tank Manufacturing asked to modify a final Commission order by extending the abatement dates for four citation items. The administrative law judge granted extensions for Items 1 and 3 but denied them for Items 2 and 4. After reviewing the record and the Secretary of Labor's brief, the…
American Smelting and Refining Company
Airborne lead general-duty violation affirmed
American Smelting and Refining operated a lead-refining plant in Omaha where air samples showed inorganic lead concentrations above the level generally accepted as safe. The administrative law judge found that the airborne lead was a recognized hazard likely to cause death or serious physical harm…
McConnell and Johnson, Inc.
Scaffold penalty reduced to $300
McConnell and Johnson used a long tubular scaffold while employees sandblasted a building 20 to 35 feet above the ground. The scaffold lacked standard railings and toeboards, had missing or unsecured braces, rested in places on concrete blocks, and included gaps and unsecured planks. The company…
Ryder Truck Lines, Inc.
Dockworker foot-protection citation affirmed
Ryder Truck Lines operated a freight terminal where dockworkers handled varied cargo around carts and powered equipment. OSHA cited the company because foot protection was not consistently used, and the record showed hazards from falling freight and vehicle wheels as well as a history of foot…
Rawls General Repair
Fire-extinguisher item affirmed and three items vacated
Rawls General Repair maintained and painted commercial fishing boats at a small Florida facility. OSHA cited the business for an unguarded scaffold, electrical conditions involving an arc welder, damaged welding cable insulation, and inadequate fire extinguishers. The administrative law judge…
Chace International Corp.
Withdrawal conditioned on employee service
Chace International sought to withdraw its contest of four citation items after stating that it had corrected the conditions and paid the proposed $220 penalty. The judge granted the motion based on an understanding that affected employees had received notice. The Commission could not find support…
Divesco Roofing and Insulation Company
Roof-platform and ladder violations affirmed
Divesco employees installed shingles on a roof 17 feet above the ground with a four-in-twelve slope, without a catch platform, parapet, or safety belts tied to lifelines. They also used a fully extended 20-foot ladder whose feet had safety shoes but whose top was not tied or otherwise secured…
Tyee Construction Company
Live-wire splicing violation affirmed
A Tyee Construction employee spliced a severed, energized 220-volt underground power line while standing on damp ground. He used uninsulated hand tools, regular work boots, and a piece of plywood as his only protection, while a superintendent and safety employee observed the work. The evidence…
Frazee Construction Company
Trench citation vacated after OSHA withheld inspection records
OSHA alleged that Frazee Construction willfully failed to shore, slope, or otherwise protect a trench and proposed a $9,000 penalty. During the hearing, the compliance officer disclosed that he had prepared notes, memoranda, and a report from four inspections and the closing conference. OSHA…
Robert J. Sweet, Inc.
Contest withdrawn and abatement date extended
Robert J. Sweet asked to withdraw its notice of contest and extend the citation's abatement date to January 15, 1973. The Secretary of Labor did not object to either request. The administrative law judge granted both motions and affirmed the citation and proposed penalties, as amended, as final…
Caldwell Lace Leather Company
Failure-to-abate penalty reduced to $1,000
Caldwell Lace Leather operated a tannery with six floor pits about six feet deep. An uncontested citation required approved guarding, but at reinspection the five lime pits still had only low concrete curbs and the soak pit had a 24-inch railing instead of the required 42-inch standard railing. The…
Feedmobile, Inc.
Grinder failure-to-abate penalty reduced to $455
Feedmobile manufactured feed-mill equipment and used five portable disc grinders without wheel guards. The company paid the original $50 penalty but did not install guards by the March 31 abatement deadline, and a reinspection four days later found the condition unchanged. Feedmobile said it had…
John B. Kelly, Inc.
Wall-collapse violation affirmed and serious penalty raised
John B. Kelly employees modified a 17-foot free-standing masonry wall at a federal construction project. A supervisor directed that the wall be supported with diagonal braces, but twice observed the employee proceeding without those braces and left after repeating warnings. The employee later…
Western Batteries, Inc.
Abatement date extended by stipulation
Western Batteries sought additional time to abate Item 1 of an amended citation. The administrative law judge extended the abatement date through July 17, 1973. After Commission review was directed, the parties jointly stipulated that the modification should be granted and all further proceedings…
Patelos Industries, Ltd.
Radial-saw failure-to-abate penalty affirmed
Patelos manufactured doors and windows using five radial saws whose lower blade portions lacked automatic guards. After two abatement extensions, a reinspection found that the saws still were not properly guarded. The company had obtained three guards but removed them because they jammed during…
Frank Irey, Jr., Inc.
Willful trench violation and $5,335 total penalties affirmed
Frank Irey performed underground electrical-conduit work in a trench about seven-and-one-half feet deep. The trench was not shored or sloped in soft or unstable material, and an employee died when a side collapsed. The administrative law judge classified the trench violation as willful because the…
Jasper Construction, Inc.
Hidden roof-hole hazard and $500 penalty affirmed
Jasper Construction created a roof opening about five feet by twenty feet for a ventilation shaft. The opening remained inadequately guarded for about a month and was later covered only with paper and lightweight insulation that could not support a person's weight. A subcontractor's employee walked…
Imco Container Company
Solvent-glove citation vacated for lack of hazard proof
Imco manufactured plastic containers and used Stoddard solvent to remove blurred enamel labels before reprinting them. Employees scrubbed bottles without gloves, and their hands became wet with solvent during the process. OSHA alleged that the solvent was a chemical hazard requiring hand protection…
Tishman Realty & Construction Company, Inc.
High-rise perimeter and debris citations affirmed
Tishman was the general contractor for a New York high-rise construction project. Multiple floors had no perimeter protection or lacked midrails and toeboards, including open sections near material and concrete hoists, and the twelfth and thirteenth floors contained accumulated construction waste…
Gressani-Gysel Construction, Inc.
Stairwell-opening citation vacated because no floor was proved
Gressani-Gysel was cited after a steel beam fell through an open stairwell or chimney-like area while employees worked above and a subcontractor's employees worked below. One subcontractor employee died, and the record showed a recognized falling-material hazard. OSHA charged the company under a…
B. Heckerman Iron Works, Inc.
Helmet item affirmed and opening citations vacated
B. Heckerman Iron Works employees worked in a stairwell area where materials could fall from above. The administrative law judge vacated the serious floor-opening citation and its $500 penalty because OSHA did not prove that a floor existed at the third-story elevation, making the cited…
Brisk Waterproofing Company, Inc.
Scaffold access charge amended and $1,200 assessed
Brisk employees performed caulking work from two suspended scaffolds 18 stories above the ground. An employee moved between them around a pylon and across an open gap without a safety belt, and three employees occupied a scaffold rated for no more than two workers. The Commission held that OSHA…
Clover Beef Company
Portable-saw grounding item affirmed and fixed-equipment item vacated
Clover Beef processed and packed meat using several fixed electrical machines and a portable hand-held saw. OSHA cited the company because the exposed metal parts of the equipment were not grounded. The Commission vacated the fixed-equipment item because the cited rule required grounding only under…
Portland Stevedoring Company
Unsecured hatch-beam violation classified as serious
Portland Stevedoring employees unloaded cargo from a ship while an unsecured hatch beam remained above the working hold. The beam was about 30 feet long, weighed 900 to 1,200 pounds, and was positioned roughly 40 feet above at least three employees. The Commission held the violation serious because…
Smith and Company, Inc.
Seven non-serious items and $95 penalty affirmed
Smith and Company manufactured clothing at a plant with about 162 employees. It admitted non-serious violations involving an elevated and unmarked exit, fire extinguishers mounted too high, inadequately guarded fans, a bench grinder lacking complete guarding and a work rest, and flexible cord used…
Winslow Crane Service, Inc.
Brace and power-line citations vacated
Winslow owned and operated a crane used near an energized power line during pipeline work. A worker employed by another company was electrocuted when the crane equipment contacted the line, but the administrative law judge vacated Winslow's serious citation because Winslow had a stricter 15-foot…
Oak Lane Diner
Five safety items affirmed and posting item vacated
Oak Lane Diner was cited for a broken stepladder, overdue fire-extinguisher inspections, an ungrounded food mixer, a spliced meat-saw cord, failure to post the OSHA employee notice, and an ungrounded bench grinder. The administrative law judge found all six non-serious violations but vacated the…
Automatic Elevator Corporation
Elevator-shaft scaffold violation classified as serious
An Automatic Elevator foreman worked in an elevator shaft on a platform made from two two-by-four boards about 20 feet above a concrete floor. The platform lacked required guardrails and overhead protection, and open shaft entrances lacked toeboards; the foreman also wore a bump cap instead of…
Greenfield and Associates, a Joint Venture
Tunnel citations settled for $16,000
Greenfield constructed a Lake Huron water-intake tunnel where an explosion killed 22 employees and seriously injured many others. OSHA issued nine citations concerning atmospheric testing, methane and communication hazards, ventilation, fire and explosion controls, evacuation planning…
The Verne-Woodrow Company
Access citation affirmed and safety-net item vacated
Verne-Woodrow employees erected steel framing and installed roof-truss bracing about 28 feet above ground and over a concrete pit. They used no safety nets, scaffolds, catch platforms, temporary floors, safety lines, or safety belts. The administrative law judge nevertheless vacated the safety-net…
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.