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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Phillips Getschow Co.
Hoist training and overload violations affirmed
Phillips Getschow was removing a 4,860-pound coal-crusher cage at an Illinois power plant with an overhead hoist rated for 4,000 pounds. The cage fell from the support and pinned a millwright against a wall, causing fatal injuries. The judge found that the company had not adequately trained every…
American Steel Erectors
Lifeline abrasion item affirmed, training item vacated
American Steel Erectors was installing roof decking at the Omaha Convention Center when an employee fell through an opening and his retractable lifeline abraded against an unprotected steel beam and broke. The employee fell 47 feet to the ground. The judge affirmed the lifeline-protection item…
E.J. Sciaba Construction Co., Inc.
Case dismissed for lack of a notice of contest
OSHA cited E.J. Sciaba Construction after a Massachusetts worksite inspection and proposed $9,000 in penalties. Sciaba then signed an informal settlement reducing the penalties but did not make the agreed payment. More than two months after receiving the citations, the company sent a letter asking…
Eric K. Ho, Ho Ho Ho Express, Inc.; Houston Fruitland, Inc.
Corporations dismissed and $658,000 assessed against Ho
Eric K. Ho hired workers to renovate a former hospital where asbestos-containing material was removed without required controls, respiratory protection, or training. OSHA also cited unsafe sanitation and emergency conditions, failure to report an accident, and a recognized hazard involving an…
Hackensack Steel Corp.
Four steel-erection violations affirmed
Hackensack Steel was erecting structural steel at a medical-center project when two connectors worked as high as 43 feet without exterior or interior fall protection and without hardhats. Unprotected reinforcing steel also created an impalement hazard below them. The Commission rejected…
CWJ Contracting, Inc.
Repeat residential fall-protection violation affirmed
CWJ Contracting framed apartment buildings, and its superintendent stood on narrow joists of an undecked second-floor balcony about 10 feet above a concrete patio without fall protection. The judge held that CWJ's controlled-access-zone plan did not apply because the superintendent was discussing…
B & L Drywall & Acoustical, Inc.
Fall-arrest and training items affirmed
B & L Drywall was installing exterior studs and drywall when a newspaper photographed an employee standing on a scissor-lift basket rail about 24 feet above the ground. The employee wore a harness, but his six-foot lanyard was attached below shoulder level and could have allowed a free fall longer…
Nutone, Inc.
Crane and scissor-lift citations vacated
Two Nutone maintenance employees were injured when an overhead bridge crane struck and knocked over the elevated scissor lift from which they were working. The crane operator had disabled the crane's automatic audible and flashing warning system without the company's knowledge. The Secretary…
Diaz Corporation
Settlement approved with $7,950 in penalties
OSHA cited Diaz Corporation for eight alleged serious violations after inspecting a worksite in Waterville, Maine. During the hearing, the parties reached a settlement that the judge approved. The agreement withdrew one item, reclassified two items as other-than-serious, combined two…
Daewoosa Samoa, Ltd.
Contest dismissed for failure to designate a representative
OSHA cited Daewoosa Samoa after inspecting its garment-manufacturing worksite in American Samoa, alleging serious, repeat, other-than-serious, and failure-to-abate violations. The company timely contested, and the proceeding was stayed while its president faced a related criminal trial. After the…
Staz-On Roofing
Residential fall-protection violation affirmed
Staz-On Roofing employees, including a foreman, worked on a residential roof more than 30 feet above the ground without remaining tied off. The company argued that workers had to unhook to retrieve rolls of felt and that conventional or additional protection was infeasible or created a greater…
Coppell Construction Company, Inc.
Fall-protection citation vacated for lack of employer knowledge
A videotape showed two Coppell Construction employees near the unprotected edge of an automated people mover about 50 feet above the ground. One employee admitted briefly unclipping his lanyard to move around coworkers, while the evidence did not establish that the second employee was untied. The…
Navillus Tile, Inc., d/b/a Navillus Contracting
Settlement approved
OSHA issued Navillus Tile two citations alleging serious and repeat violations after inspecting a New York City worksite. During the hearing, the parties reached a complete settlement and later reduced it to a signed written stipulation. The judge approved and incorporated the settlement, but the…
Donohue Industries, Inc.
Spot-welder grounding citation vacated for lack of knowledge
A Donohue Industries electrician returned a portable spot welder to service without connecting its grounding wire, and a millwright was later fatally electrocuted while using it at the paper mill. The Commission reviewed the item alleging that Donohue failed to ground the welder. It found that…
Oberdorfer Industries, Inc.
Foundry citations partly affirmed and partly vacated
Oberdorfer operated an aluminum foundry that OSHA inspected under a local emphasis program for primary-metal industries. The Commission vacated the no-smoking-sign and explosion-proof-wiring items because the Secretary did not perform the testing her expert said was needed to establish dangerous…
Brooks Well Servicing, Inc.
Snubbing-rig emergency-egress citation vacated
Brooks Well Servicing employees were assisting a specialized snubbing operation at an active oil and gas well when a blowout and explosion killed seven people. OSHA alleged that Brooks failed to provide adequate emergency escape from the elevated snubbing rig. The Commission held that the exit…
Capeway Roofing Systems, Inc.
Seven roofing violations and $111,800 affirmed
Capeway Roofing installed roofing on a firehouse with four roof levels and was cited for head protection, fall protection, monitoring, training, material storage, and defective safety equipment. The Commission found that any error in allowing two OSHA witnesses to remain in the courtroom despite a…
Lakeland Enterprises of Rhinelander, Inc.
Willful trench violation and $50,200 affirmed
A Lakeland employee worked at the bottom of an 18-foot excavation without a ladder or cave-in protection while a part-owner continued operating a backhoe nearby. The judge found that the trench walls were inadequately sloped in Type C soil with pockets of Type B soil and that loose soil was visibly…
Davis Brothers Construction Co.
Fall citation vacated for lack of exposure proof
OSHA compliance officers photographed an unidentified worker from about 300 feet away on the seventh-floor roof deck of an apartment project. Davis Brothers was the shell contractor, and the judge found that its contract gave it sufficient safety control over the decking subcontractor to make it a…
Weirton Steel Corporation
Willful carbon-monoxide item affirmed and clothing item vacated
Weirton Steel employees climbed to a blast furnace's bleeder deck without respirators while carbon-monoxide monitors alarmed at 150 parts per million or more and, on one trip, exceeded the monitor's 1,999-parts-per-million capacity. The Commission held that the respiratory-protection standard was…
CB&I Constructors, Inc.
GFCI citation against general contractor vacated
CB&I was the general contractor for an elevated water tower where an electrical subcontractor had an extension cord without visible ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection connected to a conduit threader. The judge found that the Secretary did not prove the outlet was single-phase and rated at…
Designs Unlimited Contractors
Residential roofing violations affirmed
Designs Unlimited Contractors was finishing a residential reroofing job when OSHA observed three workers more than 25 feet above the ground without fall protection. The judge found that the company had not provided competent-person inspections, had removed its fall-protection system before…
Garney Construction, Inc.
Two trench items affirmed and two vacated
Garney Construction was installing large sewer pipe in an excavation nearly eight feet deep in Type B soil. The judge vacated the egress item because a gravel ramp and ladder provided a safe route out of the trench. He affirmed the item involving a 100,000-pound excavator and excavated soil at the…
Superior Masonry Builders, Inc.
Training and competent-person items affirmed
A tower scaffold fitted with a winter enclosure collapsed during high winds while seven Superior Masonry employees were installing brick veneer, injuring all seven. The Commission vacated the item alleging that the scaffold was not adequately braced to the building because the version of the…
Cargill, Inc.
Lockout violation affirmed after palletizer fatality
A Cargill employee was killed after entering a palletizer's pusher area without de-energizing and locking out the machine. Cargill argued that the event was unpreventable employee misconduct because it had written policies, recurring training, peer observations, and discipline. The judge found that…
Austin Bridge & Road, Inc.
Crane-overloading violation affirmed
An Austin Bridge & Road crane overturned while lifting a concrete bridge beam. Austin's lift plan used an engineered beam weight, but the plan left little margin for error, a bill of lading with the actual weight was available, and the crane operator had expressed concern that the lift could not be…
Recchi America, Inc.- GLF Construction Corp., A Joint Venture
Rebar and crane swing-radius violations affirmed
OSHA cited the joint venture building Georgia's Sidney Lanier Bridge for uncapped reinforcing steel, open access holes, an inadequate crane swing-radius barricade, and failure to secure a crane to a barge. The judge affirmed the serious rebar violation and the repeat swing-radius violation. The…
Brian Hanley Logging
Yarder guyline hazard affirmed as repeat
Brian Hanley Logging anchored three guylines from a skyline logging yarder to standing trees. The judge found that the trees could fall toward employees when stressed by the yarding operation, that both the logging industry and the employer recognized the hazard, and that using notched stumps or…
Rawson Contractors, Inc.
Undermined-pavement violation affirmed
Rawson Contractors allowed employees to work on and below pavement that had been undermined by a sewer excavation, with part of an excavator resting near the unsupported area. The judge held that the cited standard presumes a hazard when pavement is undermined without support or other protection…
Lacerte Builders, Inc.
Controlling employer liable for subcontractor fall hazards
An OSHA compliance officer observed subcontractor employees using elevated aerial lifts and working on open third-floor balconies without proper fall protection. The judge found that Lacerte controlled the exterior work, supervised the subcontractors, could correct hazards, and had actual knowledge…
FABI Construction Company, Inc.
Construction violations affirmed after fatal slab collapse
A FABI employee was killed when a 10,000-pound concrete knockout slab collapsed during demolition at an Atlantic City construction project. After reviewing the full record, the Commission affirmed the judge's findings that FABI committed multiple serious construction violations, including failures…
Anderson Masonry, Inc.
Scaffold access and locking-pin violations affirmed
Employees erecting Anderson Masonry's scaffold climbed cross bracing because no ladder or other safe access had been provided, and scaffold frames lacked locking pins despite repeated forklift deliveries that could cause uplift. Those serious violations were affirmed with penalties totaling $3,000…
GFW Construction
Contest dismissed for ignoring discovery order
GFW Construction failed to answer the Secretary's interrogatories even after the judge ordered a full response within five days and warned that noncompliance would lead to sanctions. GFW also did not respond to the Secretary's sanctions motion. Finding that the refusal to comply was conscious…
Creative Gold, Inc.
Late contest dismissed after FedEx delivery
After certified-mail attempts were returned, OSHA sent two citations by FedEx to Creative Gold's new Brooklyn address, where someone at the shared entrance signed for them. The judge held that service was reasonably calculated to provide notice and that receipt occurred on the delivery date…
Trinity Industries, Inc.
Four shipyard violations affirmed after fatal barge fire
Two Trinity welders died in a fire while welding inside a newly built barge whose enclosed spaces had recently been sprayed with Tectyl, a rust inhibitor that released combustible and toxic Stoddard solvent vapors while curing. The Commission held that the shipyard enclosed-space standards applied…
C.T. Taylor Company Inc., & Esprit Constructors, Inc.
Related companies treated as a single employer
Two ironworkers fell 39 feet to their deaths after a foreman placed a 5,000-pound bundle of decking on unsecured and unbridged bar joists without providing fall protection. The Commission treated C.T. Taylor and Esprit as a single employer for this project because they shared ownership, management…
Grey Wolf Drilling Company L.P. Rig 865
Backing-truck hazard violation affirmed
A Grey Wolf toolpusher was killed by a winch truck backing across a drilling site while the driver's view was obstructed and the assigned swamper rested in the cab. The judge found that both Grey Wolf's safety manual and drilling-industry guidance recognized using a flagman when a driver lacked a…
Red-Hawk Construction, Inc.
Payment-plan amendment referred to the chief judge
The chief administrative law judge approved a settlement requiring Red-Hawk Construction to pay an $18,900 penalty. The Secretary later submitted a revised stipulation providing for eighteen monthly payments of $1,050 and asked that it replace the original stipulation. The Commission directed the…
Red-Hawk Construction, Inc.
Revised settlement returned to the chief judge
The chief judge had approved a settlement requiring Red-Hawk Construction to pay $18,900. The Secretary then submitted a revised stipulation specifying that the amount would be paid in eighteen monthly installments of $1,050 and asked that it replace the original stipulation. The Commission…
Interstate Brands Corp.
Lockout citations vacated after unforeseeable supervisor error
An Interstate Brands chief engineer lost three fingers after pulling the wrong disconnect levers, failing to apply locks or tags, and reaching into an energized sugar-system rotary valve. Applying Third Circuit precedent, the Commission found that the supervisor's departure from a well-communicated…
F & G Sons Contractors, Inc.
Late contest dismissed after signed receipt
OSHA's certified-mail return receipt showed that the citation was accepted at F & G Sons Contractors' home-based office by the company president's wife. The president claimed that she had signed only a request for later delivery and that the citation never arrived, but she did not testify and the…
84 Components Company
Settlement set aside for lack of agreement on abatement
After a settlement was approved, 84 Components and the Secretary discovered that they did not agree on the acceptable method for abating a machine-guarding citation. The judge initially left the settlement in place and suggested that the parties use a failure-to-abate proceeding or a petition to…
The Timken Company
Review vacated after split over traverser hazard
A Timken mechanic lost both feet when a moving traverser's rails meshed with rails beside the teeming car she was repairing. The two participating Commission members agreed that the lockout/tagout standard did not apply because the traverser operated independently of the teeming car. They split on…
Marcus Cable Associates, L.L.C.
Bucket-truck fall protection violations affirmed
A cable technician fell to his death from an elevated bucket while his issued harness remained in the truck. The judge found that Marcus Cable had communicated a rule requiring fall protection but failed to certify employee training, an other-than-serious violation with a $500 penalty. The company…
Rawson Contractors, Inc.
Willful trench violation affirmed and penalty reduced
Rawson's foreman removed trench boxes and knowingly sent two employees into an approximately 20-foot-deep trench with nearly vertical walls. The Commission held that the foreman's knowledge was imputable to Rawson because he supervised the crew and, critically, served as the designated competent…
Fields Excavating, Inc.
Two willful trenching violations affirmed
Fields Excavating employees entered inadequately protected pipeline excavations at two Ohio worksites. At Havener Road, a superintendent continued despite saturated, sloughing soil and explicit safety concerns from a gas repairman. At Xenia, a superintendent knowingly sent an employee into a…
Erickson Hall Construction Company
Late contest dismissed after citation was lost internally
Erickson Hall's receptionist signed for OSHA's citations but could not remember what she did with them and acknowledged that she might have discarded or misrouted them. The company argued that the compliance officer's statements and body language had suggested no citations would issue, but the…
Equipment Depot, LTD
Two forklift safety items affirmed after fatal accident
An Equipment Depot field technician died after a Hyster forklift rolled and pinned him against his service truck. The judge found the lockout/tagout standard applicable because the service call included authorized repairs, but concluded that Equipment Depot's combined formal, apprenticeship, and…
Hill Brother Construction, Inc.
Late contest dismissed after owner failed to read notice
Hill Brothers' president received OSHA's citations well before the contest deadline but looked only at the proposed penalties and did not read the prominently stated filing instructions. He then consulted several attorneys and made no effort to contact OSHA until more than 40 days after the…
Safeway, Inc.
Review vacated after split over propane grill citation
Safeway managers directed employees to adapt an oversized 40-pound propane cylinder to a grill designed for a 20-pound cylinder, leaving the larger cylinder leaning against the grill. Escaping liquid propane ignited and injured two employees. Both participating Commissioners agreed that the…
George Harms Construction Co., Inc.
Late contest dismissed when mail handler was not called
George Harms Construction had established mail procedures, and its president acted promptly after learning of the citation through a collection notice. But the employee who signed for, date-stamped, and distributed certified mail did not testify, even though she was the only known person to possess…
Ormet Primary Aluminum Corporation, Hannibal Reduction Division
Review vacated after split over union settlement objection
The Secretary and Ormet settled a citation with a proposed $3,400 penalty, but the participating union said it had timely objected to the settlement's abatement method in a letter the judge apparently never received. Chairman Railton would have affirmed the settlement because an employee…
Villa Marina Yacht Harbor, Inc.
Late contest denied after messenger mishandled mail twice
Villa Marina's messenger signed for an OSHA citation and failure-to-abate notice on January 18 but delivered them to the office the next day without disclosing the earlier pickup date. A secretary therefore stamped them received on January 19, causing the company to calculate the deadline one day…
Pico Industries
Two construction items affirmed with $650 in penalties
Following an OSHA inspection in June 2002, Pico Industries contested a citation alleging two serious construction-safety violations and $4,200 in proposed penalties. After an E-Z Trial hearing, the judge issued a bench decision. The written order affirmed item 1 as serious with a $500 penalty and…
D. Allen Bros., Inc.
Scaffold fall-protection violation affirmed after fatal fall
A bricklayer fell 42 feet to his death while crossing between scaffold sections that lacked end rails, and neither he nor his coworker wore personal fall protection. The construction manager's safety official had documented missing end rails on D. Allen scaffolds ten times before the accident and…
Parsons Contracting
Default entered after repeated missed conferences
Parsons Contracting missed a scheduled pretrial telephone conference but initially avoided default by explaining confusion about whether it would occur. The company then agreed to a second conference, failed to appear again without notice, and did not respond to the judge's order to show cause. The…
Lunda Construction Co.
Bridge-demolition lead violations result in $33,500 penalties
Lunda demolished a Milwaukee viaduct containing residual lead paint and relied on monitoring from a different bridge project instead of assessing the distinct cutting tasks at the new site. When employees began sizing steel on the ground, one cutter was exposed to more than 70 times the lead…
Avon Contractors, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
Avon Contractors received an OSHA citation but did not file a notice of contest within the required 15 working days. The company argued that a disgruntled receptionist may have destroyed the citation and that the late filing resulted from mistake or excusable neglect. The judge found that Avon did…
84 Components Company
Settlement approval set aside for inquiry into disputed abatement
After the judge approved a settlement, 84 Components asserted that the parties had not agreed on how to abate one machine-guarding item. The Secretary did not oppose the company's request for relief. The Commission set aside the approval and remanded so the judge could investigate the disputed…
Big Poll Construction, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
Big Poll Construction filed its notice of contest after the 15-working-day deadline and did not respond to the Secretary's dismissal motion. The company had attributed the delay to confusion about a letter from its engineer, but that letter predated the citation and did not concern contesting it…
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.