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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Crown Pacific
Rim-wheel training and trajectory violations affirmed
A Crown Pacific employee was killed when a repaired multi-piece wheel exploded while employees unloaded it from a pickup truck at the company's lumber-processing facility. A mechanic regularly transported, handled, and inflated multi-piece wheels but had not been trained in the required procedures…
West Winds Construction, Inc.
Scaffold planking and fall-protection violations affirmed
West Winds Construction employees repaired plaster from partially dismantled scaffold platforms that were not fully planked and had no guardrails. The workers faced falls of about 18 to 20 feet, and the site foreman directed and observed the work. Chief Judge Irving Sommer imputed the foreman's…
High End Systems, Inc.
Consultant's missed deadline did not excuse late contest
High End Systems hired a safety consultant to represent it during an OSHA inspection. The consultant received the citation, advised High End to contest it, knew the June 3 deadline, and prepared a notice of contest, but neither party sent the notice. Judge James H. Barkley found that the consultant…
Metal Buildings of Wisconsin, Inc.
Willful fall-protection citation reduced to serious
Metal Buildings of Wisconsin employees installed steel decking about 37 feet above the ground without nets, safety lines, belts, or other fall protection, and one worker died after falling through a gap. The company used a safety monitor because it considered nets a fire hazard and other methods…
Heinz Pet Products a/d/a Star-Kist Foods, Inc.
Union objections did not prevent settlement approval
Heinz Pet Products and the Secretary reached a settlement after Heinz contested citations alleging several violations. The employees' union objected because it had not participated in the negotiations, questioned whether hazards were abated, and disputed the penalty reductions and…
Nelson Tree Service, Inc.
Aerial-lift tie-off citation vacated for lack of knowledge
A Nelson Tree Service apprentice briefly operated an aerial lift without wearing the required safety belt after returning from a break. His crew leader had watched him tie off earlier, was completing paperwork in the truck when the lift rose, and could not see from the ground whether the belt was…
Foss Maritime
Eyewash and walkway citations vacated
At Foss Maritime's repair facility, OSHA found a clogged eyewash near a caustic-soda parts tank and a yacht-access walkway without midrails. A working water hose was immediately beside the caustic tank, and Judge Stanley M. Schwartz found that the Secretary did not prove the hose was unsuitable for…
Bovis Construction Corporation
Excavation citations vacated for lack of knowledge
A Bovis Construction subcontractor allowed employees into a deep excavation without a nearby safe exit, adequate water precautions, or cave-in protection. As general contractor, Bovis had enough supervisory authority to require subcontractor compliance, but its liability still depended on actual or…
Scafar Contracting, Inc.
Two trench violations affirmed and three vacated
Scafar Contracting replaced an underground sewer line through a series of excavations in Newark, New Jersey. Judge Michael H. Schoenfeld found that employees building a manhole worked beside an inadequately protected excavation wall and that another trench used timber shoring that did not meet the…
Bilran Excavating Company
Inadequately sloped trench violation affirmed
Bilran Excavating installed a water line in a trench about 8.5 feet deep with no shoring and walls sloped at 58 degrees. Its competent persons had not performed the required visual and manual soil analysis before the foreman entered the trench. Judge Covette Rooney held that without a valid soil…
The Fishel Company
Willful trench citations vacated for employee misconduct
A Fishel Company crew leader entered an unshored Type C trench more than five feet deep while a spoil pile and backhoe were close to the edge. As crew leader and competent person, his knowledge of the conditions was imputable to Fishel. Judge Ken S. Welsch nevertheless found unpreventable employee…
Richards Roofing, Inc., and Construction
Inexperience did not excuse late contest
Richards Roofing received an OSHA citation on October 6, 1997, making October 28 the deadline for a notice of contest. It filed on October 31 and explained that it was unfamiliar with OSHA procedures. Chief Judge Irving Sommer found that the citation cover letter and accompanying OSHA booklet…
Megan Construction Company
Subcontractor scaffold violation affirmed
A masonry subcontractor employee worked on a third-level scaffold without guardrails at a project controlled by Megan Construction. Judge Covette Rooney vacated an allegation that Megan lacked a program of frequent and regular inspections because its daily and weekly inspection evidence showed…
Scarff's Nursery, Inc.
Trench cave-in violation affirmed under general duty clause
Scarff's Nursery employees installed irrigation pipe in a narrow trench about 6.5 feet deep when a cave-in injured two workers. The agriculture standards contained no trench-safety provision, so OSHA proceeded under the general duty clause. Judge Ken S. Welsch found no proof that the nursery…
Evergreen Technologies, Inc.
Machine-guarding citation vacated for unforeseeable access
An Evergreen Technologies lab technician sustained severe injuries when her hair became entangled in an exposed drive screw on a material-testing machine. An accordion guard had been detached for at least three weeks, and Judge Nancy J. Spies found that reasonable diligence would have revealed the…
O'Connor & Taylor, Inc.
Clerical date error did not excuse late contest
O'Connor & Taylor received an OSHA citation on April 20, 1998, making May 11 the deadline for a notice of contest. A clerical error caused the company to record April 22 as the receipt date and file after the 15-working-day period. Chief Judge Irving Sommer found no improper conduct by the…
Korte & Luitjohan, Inc.
Leading-edge fall citation vacated under steel-erection exception
Korte & Luitjohan was installing metal roof decking on a commercial building with steel framing and wood trusses. Ten employees worked 16 to 22 feet above a concrete floor without guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall arrest systems. OSHA cited the company under the general construction…
Cumbie Concrete Company, Inc.
Carbon-monoxide and respirator violations yield $7,800
Cumbie Concrete employees cut holes in a library floor with a propane-powered saw inside a room sealed with plastic sheeting. Three employees developed carbon-monoxide poisoning and received hospital treatment. Judge Ken S. Welsch affirmed violations for lacking a propane safety data sheet and…
CMH Material Handling, LLC
Elevated-platform fall violations affirmed
A CMH Material Handling employee died after falling from a 40-foot platform while replacing bolts on an overhead crane system at an aircraft manufacturing facility. The platform lacked standard guardrails in work areas, and employees did not consistently use the body harnesses CMH supplied. Judge…
Island Lathing & Plastering, Inc.
Scaffold and ladder violations affirmed with $55,000 in penalties
Island Lathing & Plastering was performing interior plastering work at a multistory theater project. OSHA found an employee working from an unlocked mobile scaffold beside a balcony edge without fall protection, then descending a ladder while facing away from it. The judge found that the foreman…
Equity Residential Development Corporation
Roofing safety citations affirmed by default
OSHA cited Equity Residential Development Corporation after workers were observed performing roofing work without fall protection at a height of 10.3 feet. The citation alleged that the company failed to have a competent person conduct adequate jobsite inspections and failed to retrain employees on…
King Concrete Construction Company, Inc.
Willful fall violations and settlement yield $18,200
King Concrete performed concrete work on a barracks project at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. The company admitted that employees working on and near leading edges lacked required fall protection, but disputed OSHA's willful classification and proposed $49,000 penalty. The judge found the violations…
Kenko, Inc.
Two trench hazards affirmed and egress item vacated
Kenko employees were laying and connecting pipe in a trench more than 11 feet deep. OSHA cited the company for inadequate egress, loose rock or soil on the excavation face, and insufficient cave-in protection. The judge vacated the egress item because the backfill provided a safe way out and the…
East Texas Coatings, Inc.
Commission approves $4,170 confined-space settlement
East Texas Coatings removed and replaced linings inside railroad tank and hopper cars. After review was directed, the parties settled citations involving respiratory protection and permit-required confined spaces. The Secretary withdrew many items, reduced penalties on several others, and…
Harpis Exteriors
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued Harpis Exteriors a citation and proposed penalties in October 1997. The company received the citation on October 8 but did not send a notice of contest before the October 30 deadline. Its owner said he misread the citation, promptly corrected the cited conditions, and contacted OSHA and…
J & B Masonry and Construction, Inc.
Oral discussion did not preserve late contest
OSHA issued J & B Masonry and Construction a citation and proposed penalty in September 1997. The company's president said he spoke with the compliance officer after receiving the citation and believed that conversation was enough to make an appeal. He also said he did not carefully read the…
Reliance Environmental Management, Inc.
Asbestos violations affirmed but willful classification rejected
Reliance Environmental Management removed asbestos during renovation of an abandoned department store in Toledo, Ohio. OSHA cited monitoring, training, wet-method, work-practice, decontamination, and shower violations. The judge rejected the company's challenges to the inspection and its…
CH2M Hill, Inc., f/k/a CH2M Hill Central, Inc.
Forty willful tunnel electrical violations yield $200,000
CH2M Hill provided engineering and program-management services for a Milwaukee wastewater tunnel project. After methane ignited in a tunnel explosion that killed three employees of the tunneling contractor, OSHA cited CH2M for unapproved electrical equipment and nonreversible ventilation. The…
Southwest Marine, Inc.
General-duty citation dismissed because a shore-based crane fell under California's state plan
Southwest Marine repairs and refurbishes ships at a San Diego facility. In October 1996, the boom of a shore-based portal crane collapsed onto the USS Benfold moored at the pier. California's state OSHA program (CalOSHA) cited the company over crane operation and maintenance, and federal OSHA…
Black Construction Corp.
Eye-protection citation vacated, scaffold citation downgraded to de minimis
Black Construction Corporation was a contractor working on a Naval Hospital renovation project in Agana Heights, Guam. After a November 1996 inspection, OSHA cited the company for two serious violations: an employee drilling metal frames without eye protection, and a wood pole scaffold about 18…
Dawson Production Services
Rig-guying citation affirmed, anchor-capacity citation vacated after a fatal rig collapse
Dawson Production Services operated a well-servicing rig at a site in Chambers County, Texas. OSHA inspected after a fatality caused by a drill rig collapse and issued two general duty clause citations tied to how the rig was guyed and anchored. On the first item, the evidence showed the company…
Rausch Construction Company
Both excavation citations affirmed for a $5,100 penalty
Rausch Construction Company was doing sewer line connection work at an excavation site in Chicago. An OSHA compliance officer driving by in May 1997 stopped and measured the trench, finding it about 6.5 feet deep in Type C soil with vertical walls that should have been sloped to 34 degrees, and a…
R.K. Construction & Development Co.
All five demolition-site citations affirmed with penalties reduced to $4,250
R.K. Construction & Development Co. is a small family-owned demolition and building restoration contractor in Savannah, Georgia. While the company was tearing down a three-story building, an OSHA compliance officer driving by saw employees on a scaffold about 25 feet up and stopped to inspect. OSHA…
Exterior Erecting Systems, Inc.
Secretary's illness did not excuse late contest
Exterior Erecting Systems received an OSHA citation on September 2, 1997, but did not contest it before the September 23 deadline. The company explained that its secretary signed for the citation and then left work for two months because of a serious illness. Other office staff handled her duties…
Auto Shred Recycling, L.L.C.
Conveyor machine-guarding citation vacated
Auto Shred Recycling operated a metal-scrap shredding facility in Pensacola, Florida. After an employee was caught in a conveyor tail pulley and later died from his injuries, OSHA cited the company for inadequate machine guarding. The judge found that a guardrail protected employees during normal…
M & M Road Recycle, Inc.
$5,000 in attorney fees awarded for one duplicative citation under the EAJA
After largely defeating OSHA's citations in an earlier case, M & M Road Recycle, Inc. asked for its attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, which lets small employers recover costs when the government's position was not substantially justified. In the underlying case, the judge had…
S. E. Johnson Companies
Bridge-demolition protective-equipment and monitoring citations vacated
S. E. Johnson Companies cut painted steel beams during an Ohio Turnpike bridge-demolition project. OSHA alleged that disposable suits were unsafe for torch cutting, that helpers had not received representative lead monitoring, and that the company had not made the required cadmium determination…
New England Masonry Co.
Most roofing-site citations affirmed, safety-monitor and ladder-inspection items vacated
New England Masonry Co. was replacing the flat roof on a convalescent home in Glastonbury, Connecticut, when OSHA inspected and issued a five-item serious citation. The judge affirmed most of it: a ground worker in the hoist area without a hard hat, a discharged and an overcharged fire extinguisher…
Wayne J. Griffin Electric, Inc.
Commission approves no-penalty electrical settlement
Wayne J. Griffin Electric and the Secretary settled two electrical citation items after Commission review was directed. The Secretary amended the first item, under the wiring-methods standard, from serious to other-than-serious with no penalty, consistent with the administrative law judge's earlier…
Yates Grading & Heavy Equipment, Inc.
Trench safety violations yield $4,050
Yates Grading & Heavy Equipment installed sewer pipe in an excavation at a Georgia subdivision. OSHA cited the company for an inadequate safety program, insufficient excavation training, lack of cave-in protection, and a spoil pile placed at the trench edge. The judge found that general reminders…
Condor Construction Company
Willful/repeat trenching citation and hard-hat citation affirmed for $23,000
Condor Construction was building a church and day-care facility in New Rochelle, New York. OSHA had already cited and settled with the company twice at the same site for leaving employees in an unprotected excavation. On a third inspection in June 1996, the compliance officer found employees again…
Wye Electric, Inc.
Four excavation citations affirmed after employee-misconduct defense fails, $4,350
Wye Electric installs underground power and communication systems. On a construction project in Jackson, Mississippi, its crew dug a roughly 7-foot pit in unstable Type C soil at a former gas station site to set a precast manhole. OSHA cited four excavation violations: no fall barriers at the pit…
Royal Gorge Publishing d/b/a Daily Record
Forklift citation vacated where a maintenance expert outweighed the inspector
Royal Gorge Publishing, which runs the Daily Record newspaper in Canon City, Colorado, was cited after an OSHA compliance officer inspected a forklift used to move pallets of newspaper inserts. The officer found damaged insulation on electrical and hydraulic cables, exposed copper wire, cuts…
Victory Memorial Hospital & Skilled Nursing Center
Ethylene-oxide safety violations yield $12,150
Victory Memorial Hospital used ethylene oxide to sterilize instruments in its central sterile supply area. OSHA cited the hospital after finding that the area monitor was not operating, the written emergency plan was incomplete, and several recordkeeping and employee-notification duties were not…
Engineered Construction Systems, Inc.
General contractor liable for subcontractor fall hazards
Engineered Construction Systems was the general contractor for a quick-lube building project in Colorado. OSHA observed masonry employees working on scaffolds more than 10 feet high without guardrails and workers near unguarded floor pits almost eight feet deep. The judge held the general…
Processing Technologies, Inc.
Uncontested citations affirmed with penalties cut for good faith
Processing Technologies, Inc. was inspected by OSHA in August 1997 and issued a three-item serious citation plus one other-than-serious item. The company did not dispute that the violations happened; it only challenged the penalty amounts. The violations involved flammable materials stored within…
Walter Jensen, d/b/a S & W Construction
Willful steep-roof fall citations affirmed, one power-line item vacated
Walter Jensen, doing business as S & W Construction, ran residential roofing crews in New Hampshire. OSHA inspected two of his steep-roof jobsites about five weeks apart, both under the same foreman, and found roofers working high above the ground with no guardrails, nets, or personal fall arrest…
Geo. Gradel Company
Training violation affirmed after a backhoe punctured a gas line
Geo. Gradel Company was an excavation contractor replacing a sewer line during a road-widening project in Ohio. A backhoe operator punctured an eight-inch high-pressure gas line where the sewer crossed it. The judge affirmed a serious training violation because Gradel had only told workers to be…
Anderson Columbia Co., Inc.
General contractor liable for subcontractor trench hazards
Anderson Columbia Co., Inc. was the general contractor on a Florida storm-drain project where a subcontractor performed the excavation work. OSHA found spoil and heavy equipment too close to the trench edge, no cave-in protection in an 18-foot-deep trench, inadequate access for workers to leave the…
R.W. Dunteman Co.
General contractor willfully ignored a subcontractor's trench hazard
R.W. Dunteman Co. was the general contractor on an Illinois road and underground construction project, while a subcontractor performed the below-grade work. Employees of the subcontractor worked in a trench more than six feet deep without adequate sloping, shoring, or a trench box. The judge found…
DDC Interiors, Inc.
Late contest denied after the citation was overlooked
DDC Interiors received an OSHA citation on November 5, 1997, but did not file its notice of contest until December 29, after the 15-working-day deadline. The company's vice-president explained that she and her assistant had been absent, the citation was overlooked on her desk, and a death in her…
Atlantic Casting & Engineering Corporation
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation becomes final
Atlantic Casting & Engineering Corporation received an OSHA citation by certified mail on July 30, 1997. Under the law, an employer has 15 working days to file a written notice of contest, or the citation and penalties become final automatically. Atlantic's deadline was August 20, 1997, but it did…
Windham Construction Corp.
Fall-protection and aerial-lift violations affirmed
Windham Construction Corporation was repairing structural steel beneath the Gowanus Expressway in New York. An OSHA officer saw an employee ride an aerial lift without tying off, climb onto the basket railing, and work between a shoring tower and a beam without fall protection. The judge credited…
Universal Construction Company, Inc.
General contractor liable for aerial-lift hazards
Universal Construction Company, Inc. was the general contractor for a Missouri bank project. OSHA observed a subcontractor's employee working from an aerial lift without a body belt and attached lanyard, then climbing from the lift basket onto a nearby roof. Universal's own employees were not…
C & D European Stucco and Stone, Inc.
Scaffold and inspection items vacated
C & D European Stucco and Stone, Inc. installed insulation and stucco from scaffolding on a six-story motel project in Georgia. OSHA alleged that employees worked on unguarded scaffold areas and that a competent person had not made regular site inspections. The judge credited the employer's…
S & F Concrete Contractors, Inc.
Fall citation affirmed with a reduced penalty
S & F Concrete Contractors, Inc. performed concrete formwork for a hotel parking garage in the Boston area. OSHA cited the company for failing to protect employees working on concrete beams near open sides and ends. The judge found that one open side lacked required midrail protection and that one…
Commercial Wall, Inc.
Willful fall violation affirmed at one motel site
Commercial Wall, Inc. supplied framing crews for motel projects in Galesburg and Knoxville, Illinois. At the Galesburg site, the judge found Commercial was the employer because it held the framing contract, paid the workers, covered workers' compensation, and retained the right to control the work…
Stone-Circle Underground, Inc.
Trackhoe bucket violation affirmed, spoil-pile and cave-in items vacated
Stone-Circle Underground builds underground drainage fields in the Fort Lauderdale area. During an August 1997 inspection of a French drain job in a bank parking lot, OSHA issued three excavation citations: employees working under a trackhoe bucket, a spoil pile stacked at the trench edge, and a…
McKie Ford
Willful conveyor hazard affirmed with a $20,000 penalty
McKie Ford operated an automobile dealership where employees routinely rode a vertical reciprocating conveyor designed only for freight. An employee was killed when his head was caught between the second-floor landing and the ceiling of the unguarded conveyor. The judge found the hazard recognized…
Brandenburg Industrial Services Company
Four demolition safety violations affirmed
Brandenburg Industrial Services Company performed demolition work at the Bethlehem Steel plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. OSHA cited an inadequately protected eight-foot excavation, an uncovered floor opening, a worn shackle, and excessively worn chain links on magnet excavators. The judge found…
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.