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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Sam Houston Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Power-line tagging citation vacated
Two Sam Houston Electric linemen volunteered to assist Rusk County Electric with storm-damaged lines and worked under a Rusk County supervisor. The combined group operated at separated locations without tags or effective direct communication, and an employee of another company was electrocuted…
Rusk County Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Power-line tagging violation affirmed
Rusk County Electric supervised several outside crews repairing storm-damaged power lines at three locations along the same deenergized line. Its supervisor knew tagging was required when multiple crews worked at separate points but did not place a tag at the disconnect. He later reenergized the…
HST Roofing, Inc.
Low-slope roof fall citation vacated
HST Roofing employees spread stone in the center of a large multiplex roof that had parapet protection except at two open-edge areas. The judge found that the employees' work and access route did not take them near those two unprotected areas, so the Secretary did not prove exposure. He also found…
European Craft Construction, Inc.
Default affirmed three safety items and $4,000 penalty
European Craft Construction stopped participating after an initial prehearing conference. The company did not join later conference calls, return messages, help prepare the joint prehearing statement, or respond to an order to show cause. The judge found that the company had received the…
Ranch Masonry, Inc.
Scaffold-gap and balcony fall violations resulted in $9,000 in penalties
Ranch Masonry employees applied stucco from a fifth-level scaffold about 33 feet above the ground. An employee fell between the scaffold and building and died. The judge found that the scaffold platform was more than the permitted 18 inches from the wall, employees routinely crossed a roughly…
Turner Construction Company
Escalator-access and floor-hole citations vacated
Turner was the general contractor for interior demolition at an Atlanta building where another contractor's equipment-repair technician was found dead after an apparent fall through a floor opening. OSHA cited Turner for allegedly failing to barricade an escalator and protect employees from floor…
FM Construction Company
Late contest dismissed after citation mail went uncollected
OSHA mailed a citation to the address FM Construction's owner had provided, and the owner's sister signed for it. The owner visited that address to collect business mail but did not retrieve the citation until after the 15-working-day contest period had expired. The judge found that service was…
Giant's World Corp.
Late contest dismissed for lack of excusable neglect
Giant's World received an OSHA citation and proposed penalty by certified mail but did not submit a notice of contest within 15 working days. The company later cited a communication breakdown with its attorneys and argued that OSHA had named the wrong related company. The judge found no evidence…
Follett Corporation
Reliance on landlord did not excuse late contest
Follett operated a college bookstore in a Tuskegee University building and received citations concerning vermin, asbestos awareness, and lead exposure. Its store manager gave both Follett's citations and the university's separate citations to a university safety official, believing the university…
Pronto Construction Co., Inc.
Settlement talks did not extend contest deadline
OSHA personally delivered a second citation to Pronto Construction's president and attorney during a settlement meeting and twice explained the contest deadline. Pronto did not file a notice of contest before that deadline, although an OSHA official later resumed settlement discussions without…
Inglett & Stubbs, Inc.
Mishandled citation did not excuse late contest
Inglett & Stubbs was an electrical contractor whose employee died after being caught between a scissor lift guardrail and a structure. OSHA cited the company for moving the lift without a competent person and for inadequate scissor-lift training. The citation reached the company's office, but it…
CSX Transportation
Lost corporate mail did not excuse late contest
OSHA sent a three-item serious citation to CSX's corporate post office box by certified mail, where a company mailroom employee signed for it. The citation did not reach the engineering department, and CSX filed its contest about a month late after OSHA called and faxed a copy. CSX argued that OSHA…
Roni Development Co., Inc.
Settlement approved
OSHA issued Roni Development citations alleging serious and other-than-serious violations after inspecting a worksite. The parties reached a settlement at the hearing and reduced their agreement to a written stipulation. The judge approved the settlement and incorporated its terms into the order…
Trinity Marine Products, Inc.
Welding electrical-hazard citations vacated
Trinity manufactured river barges at a Tennessee shipyard where a newly assigned welder received a fatal electric shock while tack welding. OSHA alleged that the welding rod holder was not fully insulated, employees lacked adequate hazard-communication training, and Trinity failed to keep welders'…
SC Development Corporation
Lead-protection violations affirmed and willful classification reduced
SC Development demolished a lead-painted railroad bridge by torch cutting without first assessing employee lead exposure. Employees lacked required interim respiratory protection, protective clothing, washing facilities, biological monitoring, training, and a site-specific compliance program. The…
Bob Anderson Builders, Inc.
Willful roof-fall violation affirmed
Bob Anderson Builders framed a multi-story retirement facility where a newly hired carpenter slipped on a frosted roof and fell 32 to 34 feet through a gap in an incomplete slide guard. The judge found that employees also accessed the roof by climbing trusses instead of a ladder, but classified…
Noble Drilling Services, Inc. and Noble Drilling (U.S.) Inc.
Personnel-basket and test-record violations affirmed
Noble was converting an offshore drilling unit at a Mississippi shipyard when OSHA inspected the vessel and dockside work. The judge held that OSHA had jurisdiction because the Coast Guard had not regulated the cited working conditions on the uninspected vessel. A serious general-duty violation was…
Tierdael Construction Company
Transite-pipe asbestos items partly affirmed
Tierdael removed asbestos-containing transite water pipe while lowering a water line in Colorado. The judge held that removing the buried pipe was Class II asbestos work even though the pipe remained non-friable and employee exposure stayed below OSHA limits. Tierdael failed to establish a…
The National Coal Museum
Mine-roof hazard affirmed as serious
The National Coal Museum operated public tours in an abandoned Illinois coal mine and employed former miners to maintain the underground facility. The judge held that OSHA had jurisdiction because the site was a museum, not an active mineral-extraction operation regulated by MSHA, and rejected…
Double "A" Industries, Inc.
Roofing subcontractor's safety citations affirmed under the multi-employer worksite rule
Double "A" Industries is a small south Florida shell contractor that took a $38,000 contract to build a guardhouse and subcontracted the roofing labor out. An OSHA officer inspecting a nearby site watched roof workers for about 40 minutes without fall protection or hard hats and improperly using…
LTV Steel Company, Inc., United Steel Workers of America, District 1, Local Union 188, Authorized Employee Representative
First-aid coverage citation vacated
LTV reduced one of its two steel-mill infirmaries to daytime hours after constructing a bridge connecting the mill's east and west sides. OSHA alleged that west-side employees lacked a nearby medical facility and adequately trained first-aid personnel during evening hours. The judge found that the…
LTV Steel Company, Inc.
Fatality-reporting citation vacated
An LTV Steel millwright suffered a fatal heart attack while working outdoors at the company's Cleveland mill. OSHA cited LTV under the then-current rule requiring an employer to report a death from a work-related incident within eight hours. The judge found no evidence that work activity or a…
Simkins-Hallin Lumber Company
General duty citation vacated for a forklift-stacking practice the industry did not recognize as hazardous
Simkins-Hallin runs a lumberyard in Bozeman, Montana. After an employee was killed in a forklift stacking operation, OSHA inspected and issued citations, the main one under the general duty clause for letting forklift operators climb onto the machine's fenders to slide spacer boards ("stickers")…
North Dallas Acrylic & Stucco, Inc., and its successors
Scaffold footing citation vacated, ladder-access and fall-protection citations affirmed
North Dallas Acrylic & Stucco was applying stucco from a three-tier scaffold at a WalMart construction site in Keller, Texas, when an OSHA officer inspected and cited three scaffold violations. One item claimed the scaffold legs lacked base plates and mud sills; the judge credited the crew leader's…
Metric Constructors, Inc.
Scaffold guardrail violations affirmed
Metric was the general contractor for an Army barracks project where its masonry subcontractor used scaffolds with missing or deficient fall protection. The judge held Metric responsible as the controlling employer because it conducted daily inspections, paid for the scaffolding, and could require…
D.C. Pagers, Inc., d/b/a Superior Service
$5,224.47 fee award granted
D.C. Pagers prevailed in an earlier case after two electrical-safety items were vacated and a third item citing a nonexistent standard was dismissed. It sought attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The judge found that the Secretary was not substantially justified in…
Ricop Construction Company
One-day-late contest dismissed
Ricop received an OSHA citation and was twice told that its 15-working-day contest period ended on May 17, 2001. During settlement discussions, company representatives believed the OSHA area director would call again before the deadline about possible additional amendments. Ricop did not sign the…
Lampson International, Ltd.
Commission approves Miller Park crane settlement
Lampson supplied and operated the Big Blue heavy-lift crane at the Miller Park stadium project, where the crane collapsed during a roof-section lift. After Commission review was directed, the parties settled all remaining issues. The Secretary withdrew one crane-rating item, amended the…
Kevin Dallas Roofing
Default judgment after the employer stopped participating, all citations affirmed
Kevin Dallas Roofing, a sole proprietor in Ohio, was inspected by OSHA and issued a serious citation and an other-than-serious citation totaling $1,650 in proposed penalties. The employer contested the inspection by letter, but then did not participate in the scheduled pre-hearing conference call…
Allen Howe & Son, Inc.
Repeat trench violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Two Allen Howe & Son employees worked in a roughly seven-foot-deep sewer trench whose Type B soil walls were steeper than the permitted 45-degree slope. OSHA cited the default sloping option, but the judge found that both parties tried the case under the Type B soil requirements and amended the…
M.P. Dory Co.
Settlement approved, training citation affirmed and two others vacated
M.P. Dory Co., a stucco construction employer in Columbus, Ohio, was inspected by OSHA and issued a citation for three serious violations of construction safety standards. The company contested all of them, but before the hearing concluded the parties reached a settlement, which they placed on the…
BF Goodrich Hilton Davis, Inc.
One PPE citation affirmed after a boilout burn injury, remaining items vacated
BF Goodrich Hilton Davis makes color pigments and dyes at a Cincinnati plant, where large dryers are periodically cleaned with a hot, corrosive soap-and-water "boilout." A third-shift operator was burned over 47 percent of his body when boilout contents at about 116 degrees Celsius splashed on him…
American Wrecking Corporation and IDM Environmental Corporation
Commission-indexed release contains remand ruling
The OSHRC index identifies this as a Commission decision dated December 20, 2001, but the official PDF currently serves the later Administrative Law Judge decision issued after the Commission's remand. The served text states that the Commission had remanded for credibility findings and a ruling on…
Star Brite Construction Co., Inc.
Willful roof-edge violations and cylinder items affirmed
Star Brite replaced large low-pitched roofs at a New Jersey bus complex where employees worked near 25-foot-high unprotected edges and handled roofing materials at the roof edge. The Commission affirmed violations of the general built-up-roofing and roof-edge material-handling fall-protection…
C.J. Hughes Construction, Inc.
EAJA award reduced to $19,443.20
C.J. Hughes prevailed in the underlying trench case and received an Equal Access to Justice Act award for fees and expenses incurred contesting six citation items. On review, the Commissioners remained divided over whether the Secretary was substantially justified in litigating the trench-egress…
T.C. Erectors, Inc.
Fall-protection citation affirmed after a 28-foot roof fall on an untiered building
T.C. Erectors is a small steel erection contractor that was a subcontractor building a grocery store in Columbus, Ohio. An employee dragging roof decking fell 28 feet to the interior of the building and suffered fractures in both wrists and a foot plus a head injury; he was wearing a safety belt…
Oxford Mining, Inc.
Commission vacates PPE and hazard-training citations, finding OSHA preempted by MSHA
Oxford Mining did reclamation work at an abandoned bauxite mine site in Arkansas, where employees handled Alroc, an alkaline treated pot-liner material used to surface haul roads and fill the pit. OSHA cited Oxford for two serious violations: not providing personal protective equipment and not…
JTM Industries, Inc.
OSHA citations vacated because MSHA had authority
JTM performed reclamation work at a former open-pit bauxite mine and handled alkaline Alroc material on haul roads and in the excavated pit. OSHA cited the company for inadequate protective equipment and hazard-communication training. The Commission held that the reclamation site remained a mine…
Associated Construction
Commission-indexed file contains ALJ fall-protection ruling
The OSHRC index identifies this as a Commission decision dated December 14, 2001, but the official PDF currently serves an Administrative Law Judge decision dated January 31, 2002. In the served decision, two Associated Construction employees erected prefabricated walls within inches of an…
Northwest Airlines, Inc.
Settlement order remanded to consider union's timely objections
The judge approved a settlement between the Secretary and Northwest Airlines despite objections from the machinists' union. His order stated that the union had not submitted a timely report, but the union had faxed and mailed an objection letter by the August 31 deadline. That letter opposed…
Ford Motor Company
Electrical-safety settlement approved
The Commission approved a settlement resolving the remaining electrical-safety items from an OSHA inspection of Ford. The parties allowed the judge's vacatur of two deenergization items and the affirmed serious findings on three electrical-work and protective-equipment items to become final, while…
Revoli Construction Co., Inc.
Willful trench violation and $63,000 penalty affirmed
A Revoli employee worked in a 7.5-foot-deep, unshored and unsloped trench while the foreman watched from a backhoe. The Commission found actual knowledge through the foreman and constructive knowledge because Revoli lacked an effective enforcement or disciplinary system despite knowing the employee…
J. Masterson Construction Corporation
Willful trench violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Two J. Masterson employees worked in a trench whose near-vertical wall was more than six feet high and consisted of Type B and Type C soil. The superintendent stood at the trench edge and watched while no shoring, sloping, or trench box protected the employees. The judge rejected the company's…
MJP Construction Co., Inc.
High-rise fall violations affirmed and willful penalties increased
MJP was the formwork subcontractor on a high-rise concrete project where employees repeatedly worked at open floor edges and hoist areas without guardrails or personal fall-arrest systems. The Commission affirmed the violations, finding that videotape and testimony showed exposure and that MJP did…
Janusz Szydlowski d/b/a J Home Improvement, Inc.
Contest filed nearly a year late dismissed
J Home Improvement received an OSHA citation by certified mail on April 26, 2000, making May 17 the deadline to contest. Its first response was a letter to the Commission received almost a year later. The owner argued that he had not received or understood information about the 15-working-day…
R.B. Thomas Electric, Inc.
Aerial-lift and safety-program violations affirmed
An OSHA compliance officer saw a Thomas Electric apprentice working 15 to 20 feet above concrete in an aerial lift without a safety harness. The judge found that the company was still performing construction work and had not arranged regular competent-person inspections or systematically trained…
Westar Mechanical, Inc.
Serious trench violations and $31,950 penalties affirmed
Westar and a subcontractor installed a sewer line in unprotected excavations on two consecutive days. On the second day, a trench wall collapsed, a water main broke, and two trapped workers drowned as the trench filled with water. The Commission held that separate cave-in and competent-person…
Hensel Phelps Construction Co. and its successors
Fall-protection violations affirmed with reduced penalty
OSHA observed Hensel Phelps employees working more than 25 feet above a lower level with deficient fall protection. The cited conditions included work before guardrails were properly installed, a guardrail that deflected below the required height, unflagged wire-rope rails, and floor-hole exposure…
Omaha Paper Stock Company
Eight permit-space violations affirmed
Omaha Paper Stock used a large baler whose chamber employees entered to clear jams. An employee became trapped under five to six feet of paper and required a 48-minute rescue. The Commission held that the chamber was a permit-required confined space because entrants faced recognized serious hazards…
Hart Metals, Inc.
Electrical item affirmed and forklift item vacated
Hart processed magnesium ingots and particulate in two chipper areas at its Pennsylvania plant. OSHA alleged that a propane forklift needed an explosion-rated designation in the open chipper area and that ordinary electrical equipment was improper in the enclosed chipper area. The judge vacated the…
CBI Services, Inc.
Willful crane-load riding violation affirmed
At a Massachusetts worksite, a CBI employee stood on a hollow steel ring while a crawler crane lifted, swung, and suspended the load into position. The Commission rejected CBI's challenge to the OSHA crane standard, holding that the incorporated 1968 ANSI safety code had been validly incorporated…
Modern Continental Construction Company, Inc.
Rigging-training and suspended-load violations affirmed
At Boston's Big Dig, employees removed shoring through a small ceiling access hole. A vertically rigged bundle of seven-foot cross braces slipped and fell through the opening, impaling an employee in the head. The judge found that Modern had not adequately trained the crew for vertical lifts…
Pro Set Erectors, and its successors
Fall-protection violation affirmed and penalty reduced
At a construction site in Idaho, a Pro Set foreman unhooked his lanyard and climbed over the rail of an aerial-lift basket onto a stairway about 30 feet above the ground. The judge held that the lift basket was not an adequate catch platform because it did not reliably protect an employee climbing…
Fieldbrook Farms, Inc.
Willful hearing-conservation violations affirmed
Fieldbrook produced ice cream and frozen desserts at a New York plant where employees were exposed to occupational noise. The company stopped the plant's annual audiometric testing program despite prior test records, consultant communications, an insurer's warning, and managers who knew OSHA's…
Everett Group
Case dismissed after the government's lawyer missed the pre-trial conference
This case was a dispute between the Secretary of Labor and an employer, Everett Group, over an OSHA citation. It never reached the safety issues. The judge scheduled a pre-trial telephone conference, rescheduled it twice to accommodate the government's counsel, and then the government's attorney…
Sema Construction, Inc.
Training citation vacated after a load unexpectedly kicked free of an excavator
SEMA Construction was doing bridge demolition work at a job site in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In September 2000 a laborer helping load scrap metal was struck and seriously injured when a long piece of box tubing being moved by an excavator unexpectedly kicked free of the bucket and was propelled…
Saint Vincent's Hospital
Withdrawal stipulation approved
OSHA issued Saint Vincent's Hospital a serious citation after inspecting its worksite in Staten Island, New York. The hospital timely contested the citation, and the case proceeded to a hearing. After the hearing closed, the parties submitted an executed stipulation of withdrawal addressing all…
Barajas & F Construction & Succ.
Settlement agreement approved
OSHA issued Barajas & F Construction a serious citation after inspecting a worksite in The Colony, Texas. The employer timely contested the citation, and the parties reached an agreement at the hearing. The judge approved their executed settlement agreement, which resolved the case in full. The…
Tree of Life, Inc., d/b/a Gourmet Award Foods, NE Division
Emergency-exit violation reclassified as serious
Tree of Life operated a wholesale food warehouse where two emergency exit doors would not open promptly when employees applied reasonable pressure. The judge affirmed the exit violation as de minimis because the doors eventually opened. The Commission held that the violation was serious because…
Salmon River Wood Products
Settlement approved and fee application dismissed
The case arose after a Salmon River logging employee was killed when a tree he felled struck a rotted Douglas fir, causing it to fall on him. The administrative law judge had affirmed danger-tree, backcut, and retraining violations with $12,500 in total penalties and vacated four other items. After…
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.