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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Serstel Corporation
Secretary withdraws two construction citations
An OSHRC judge affirmed citations against Serstel Corporation under a general personal-protective-equipment standard and a material-hoist standard. Serstel petitioned for Commission review, review was directed, and the Commission issued a briefing order. After further review, the Secretary decided…
Dow Chemical U.S.A.
Case remanded after Seventh Circuit decision
The Seventh Circuit returned Dow Chemical's case to the Commission. The Commission then remanded it to the Chief Administrative Law Judge for assignment to a new judge and further proceedings consistent with the court's decision. The original judge was no longer with the Commission. The official…
The Towne Construction Company
Crane overload affirmed, posting item vacated
Towne Construction used a truck crane to raise a reinforcing-steel mat when the boom collapsed, causing the mat to strike and kill an employee. The Commission held that the crane was overloaded under the manufacturer's load chart and that requiring compliance with the chart was valid as applied…
Caterpillar Tractor Co.
Lead-standard case resolved by settlement
OSHA cited Caterpillar under several provisions of the occupational lead standard at a gray-iron foundry. Caterpillar challenged the standard's promulgation, while the Secretary argued that Caterpillar was bound by an earlier court decision involving a trade association of which it was a member…
Smith Steel Casting Company
Air-contaminant items remanded after appeal
The Fifth Circuit returned Smith Steel Casting Company's consolidated case to the Commission. Following the court's instructions, the Commission remanded two items from citation 1 and one item from citation 2 to the administrative law judge. The judge was directed to consider Smith Steel's argument…
E & R Erectors, Inc.
Dismissed contest reinstated for further proceedings
An OSHRC judge dismissed E & R Erectors' citation contest because the company had not shown that affected employees received the required notice. E & R later explained that it was a leasing company with one office employee, that its controller misunderstood the process, and that it believed another…
Harrison Furniture Manufacturing Co.
Warrant case remanded for good-faith evidence
OSHA inspected Harrison Furniture's Arkansas plant under a warrant based on a former employee's complaints about specific conditions. The judge found the warrant valid for those listed conditions but overly broad insofar as it authorized a plant-wide inspection, and he suppressed part of the…
Conoco, Inc.
Asbestos-removal items resolved by settlement
Conoco and the Secretary settled two contested items from citation 8 concerning asbestos-removal work at the company's Billings refinery. Conoco withdrew its contest, stated that both items had been abated, and agreed to follow valid asbestos-removal rules. The Secretary agreed not to use the…
J.L. Foti Construction Company
Scaffold-block issue remanded for stability finding
J.L. Foti Construction Company, a masonry contractor, used concrete blocks as part of the support for a scaffold at a wastewater-treatment-plant project. Following a Sixth Circuit decision, the Commission remanded the alleged violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.451(a)(2) to the administrative law judge…
William B. Hopke Company, Inc.
Attorney-fee award affirmed for flagman citation
William B. Hopke Company sought attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act after prevailing against flagman and trench-box citations. The Commission held that the Secretary was not substantially justified in pursuing the flagman citation because the incorporated ANSI provision used…
U.S. Steel Corporation, Eastern Steel Division & Its Successors
Willful citation withdrawn after review
An administrative law judge had affirmed a willful citation against U.S. Steel under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.179(l)(3). The Commission granted review and later requested briefs. Although the Secretary continued to believe the judge was correct, he withdrew the citation after reviewing the record and…
United Parcel Service
Footwear abatement issue remanded for hearing
United Parcel Service had withdrawn its contest to a citation alleging that workers handling heavy parcels needed foot protection under 29 C.F.R. §§ 1910.132(a) and 1910.136. After a later inspection, OSHA issued a failure-to-abate notification because the employees were not wearing safety shoes…
City Oil Well Service Co.
Respirator violations affirmed after hydrogen sulfide exposure
Two City Oil Well Service employees died during swabbing work at an oil well where later testing found hydrogen sulfide at 225 parts per million. City relied on well operators to identify hydrogen-sulfide hazards and provide respirators, and it had no respiratory-protection program of its own. The…
Martin Wright Electric Company
Serious citation withdrawn in approved settlement
OSHA cited Martin Wright Electric for a serious guardrail violation with a proposed $250 penalty and a nonserious electrical violation with no proposed penalty. The judge affirmed the guardrail item but reduced its penalty to $75, and vacated the electrical item. During Commission review, the…
CF&I Steel Corporation
Most coke-oven items vacated
OSHA cited CF&I Steel over regulated areas, respirator practices, smoking, and training at its Pueblo coke-oven facility. The Commission held that the undefined term "battery ends" meant the outer pinion walls as understood in the coke-oven industry, so facilities and machinery beyond those walls…
Williams Enterprises of Georgia, Inc.
Safety-net and floor-opening items vacated
Williams Enterprises was the steel-erection subcontractor on a high-rise construction project in Atlanta. In this 1986 decision, the Commission held that the steel-erection rules displaced the general safety-net standard and vacated the exterior-fall allegations under 29 C.F.R. §§ 1926.105(a) and…
Spartan Rigging Corporation & Atlantic Rigging Corporation
Safety-belt citations withdrawn
OSHA cited Spartan Rigging and Atlantic Rigging for allegedly failing to require employees dismantling scaffolds to wear tied-off safety belts. An administrative law judge affirmed the serious citations under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.28(a), and the employers obtained Commission review. After further…
Salem-Gravure Division of World Color Press, Inc.
Trade-secret inspection order vacated
OSHA cited Salem-Gravure under the general duty clause for alleged repetitive-motion hazards in its bindery department. During discovery, the Secretary sought to have a private consultant inspect areas containing trade secrets. The Commission held that its own protective order did not provide…
Pav-Saver Manufacturing Company
Oral contest accepted and case remanded
OSHA issued Pav-Saver serious and nonserious citations with $3,820 in proposed penalties. During the contest period, company representatives attended an informal conference, explained their abatement measures, and believed OSHA's approval meant the citations would be dismissed. Pav-Saver did not…
Barretto Granite Corporation
Citations vacated after oral contest accepted
Barretto Granite orally disputed OSHA's citation and $240 proposed penalty at an informal conference held within the 15-working-day contest period, then sent written confirmation after the deadline. The Commission held that the company reasonably believed the conference and follow-up letter…
FMC Corporation
Nitrogen-trichloride hazard items vacated
FMC produced chlorine at a West Virginia plant where nitrogen trichloride was present in a waste stream handled through heated tanks and transfer piping. An employee died when an explosion occurred in a transfer line and tank during the neutralization process. OSHA issued two general-duty citations…
Elmer Construction Corporation
Late contest accepted after filing confusion
OSHA issued Elmer Construction a citation alleging two serious violations and proposing a $320 penalty. Elmer paid the penalty, but its newly hired attorney called OSHA seeking to contest the citation while the 15-working-day filing period was still open. Because neither the attorney nor the OSHA…
Synkote Paint Company, KDK Upset Forging Company
Citations affirmed despite warrant challenges
Synkote Paint and KDK Upset Forging challenged programmed-inspection warrants as broader than the administrative plans used to establish probable cause. Each company stipulated that it had committed the cited violations while preserving its warrant and suppression arguments. The Commission read…
Pennsylvania Steel Foundry & Machine Company
Foundry settlement enforced and machine items split
OSHA's inspection of Pennsylvania Steel Foundry produced citations alleging 298 violations. The Commission declined to suppress the inspection evidence, holding that the later rule against ex parte warrants did not apply retroactively and that suppression would provide little deterrent value under…
Engle, Inc.
Scaffold citation settled without penalty
OSHA cited Engle, a construction company, for one serious violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.451(e)(8) and proposed a $240 penalty. An administrative law judge affirmed the citation and assessed $150, after which the Commission granted review. In the settlement, the Secretary reclassified the citation…
Aerlex Corporation
Settlement approval set aside for withdrawal hearing
Aerlex agreed to withdraw its contest to citations and $58,000 in proposed penalties after an explosion reportedly destroyed its business. The company stated that it had a defense but lacked the income and resources to continue litigating. After counsel reappeared, Aerlex moved to withdraw from the…
Cerro Copper Products Company
Suppression orders vacated after court reversal
A Commission judge had invalidated two OSHA inspection warrants and suppressed the evidence gathered under them, causing most citation items to be vacated. The Seventh Circuit reversed those portions of the judge's orders and directed the Commission to approve the safety and health warrants. The…
Robert Aaron Greenberg, Esquire, and The Law Firm of Tomar, Parks, Seliger, Simonoff & Adourian
Disciplinary proceeding closed without findings
The Commission received an apology from attorney Robert Aaron Greenberg and his law firm concerning the circumstances that led to a disciplinary proceeding. They also assured the Commission that they would use their best efforts to follow Commission rules and orders in the future. Because the…
Heaton Erecting, Inc.
Mobile-scaffold guardrail issue remanded
OSHA alleged that Heaton Erecting violated the mobile-scaffold guardrail standard because an unguarded scaffold was more than 40 feet above the ground. The judge vacated the item because the scaffold platform was only 50 to 70 inches above its base and relied on a Commission interpretation that was…
Dun-Par Engineered Form Company
Unguarded-floor citation affirmed
A Dun-Par employee died after falling 131 feet from an unguarded eleventh-floor perimeter while banding stacks of lumber. The Commission held that the employee was exposed to a fall hazard while working 2 to 3.5 feet from the edge and that the foreman knew or should have known the assigned work…
Inland Steel Company
Railcar safety citation vacated
An Inland Steel switchman died while attempting to couple two groups of railcars at the company's large internal railroad operation. OSHA alleged a willful general-duty violation because Inland's cars lacked handbrakes and because its program for defective railcars and coupling work was inadequate…
Dun-Par Engineered Form Company
Fall-protection citation vacated as infeasible
Dun-Par employees performed concrete formwork on unguarded upper floors of an eleven-story construction project. The Commission replaced its strict impossibility defense with an infeasibility defense that considers the practical realities of the workplace. It held that Dun-Par proved perimeter…
Kastalon, Inc. and Conap, Inc.
MOCA exposure citations vacated
Kastalon and Conap used MOCA, a chemical shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals, to manufacture polyurethane products. OSHA alleged general-duty violations at both companies and personal-protective-equipment and respirator violations at Conap. The Commission held that OSHA had to prove a…
John R. Jurgensen Company
Repeated trenching violation affirmed
Jurgensen was installing a drain line beside an older pipeline when part of an unshored trench wall collapsed on an employee. The Commission found the wall unstable because the new trench intersected backfill and gravel from the earlier excavation, and Jurgensen did not prove that the old fill had…
Bemis Manufacturing Company
Nuisance-dust citation withdrawn with prejudice
The Secretary moved to withdraw a citation alleging that Bemis Manufacturing violated the nuisance-dust limit in 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1000. The Commission granted the withdrawal with prejudice. The official release provides no additional factual or penalty details.
Con Agra, Inc.
Citation withdrawn with prejudice
The Secretary moved to withdraw the citation against Con Agra. The Commission granted the withdrawal with prejudice. The official release does not identify the cited standard, facts, or proposed penalty.
Monarch Water Systems, Inc.
Paint-ignition item remanded
Monarch employees sprayed flammable paint inside a tank while a blower and hand lamp were positioned within 50 feet. The judge vacated the flammable-liquid item based partly on ventilation and the employees' failure to follow company instructions. The Commission held that the cited standard…
Amax Lead Company of Missouri
Medical-removal pay citations vacated
Amax Lead, Schuylkill Metals, and St. Joe Resources transferred employees from high-lead jobs under the lead standard's medical-removal provisions. They continued each employee's regular hourly rate for a 40-hour week but did not pay potential overtime, production bonuses, shift differentials, or…
Amoco Chemicals Corporation
Illness-recording and medical-notice items vacated
OSHA alleged that Amoco willfully failed to record asbestos-related illnesses and failed to tell an employee about a potentially serious pleural condition. The Commission held that the record did not prove Amoco had enough information and expertise at the relevant time to reasonably diagnose the…
K.D.K. Upset Forging, Inc.
Attorney-fee entitlement recognized after withdrawal
OSHA cited K.D.K. for failing to post the required employee notice, then withdrew the citation before hearing. K.D.K. applied for $600 in attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The Commission held that K.D.K. was the prevailing party because withdrawal gave it the principal relief…
Pelron Corporation
Ethylene-oxide training citation vacated
An explosion in Pelron's pilot chemical reactor killed one employee and seriously injured another during an experimental ethylene-oxide process. OSHA alleged that Pelron's employee training did not adequately prevent ethylene-oxide explosions. The Commission held that the hazard had to be defined…
E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Company
Protective-order case closed for separate discipline
DuPont complained that an attorney and law firm had violated a protective order in the case. A Commission judge found that the protected materials had been improperly disclosed. Because time had passed and the materials had already been publicly disseminated, the Commission concluded that efforts…
Krause Milling Company
Corn-dust citation dismissed
OSHA cited Krause Milling for employee exposure to corn dust under the inert-or-nuisance-dust provision of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1000. The Commission held that the cited provision was part of a mineral-dust standard and did not apply to organic corn dust, and that a broader interpretation would deny…
Cerro Metal Products Division, Marmon Group, Inc.
Press-maintenance citation vacated
A Cerro mechanic died when a loader on an energized brass-extrusion press unexpectedly moved during repair work. Cerro had a rule requiring the press to be deenergized before repairs, and the employee who reenergized it knew that rule. The Commission held that OSHA bore the burden to show specific…
Paschen/Morrison-Knudsen/Kenny, A Joint Venture
Tunneling citations left affirmed
A Commission judge affirmed four citation items from a tunneling operation and assessed a combined $3,300 penalty. Two items concerned testing for flammable gases and oxygen deficiency and were classified as serious rather than willful. The Secretary sought review only of that classification while…
Hamilton Die Cast, Inc.
Duplicate face-protection citation vacated
An earlier Hamilton case included a face-protection citation that a judge affirmed while another item from the same decision was directed for Commission review. Before that review ended, OSHA cited Hamilton again for the same face-protection condition. The Commission held that directing any part of…
Hamilton Die Cast, Inc.
Eye-protection item remanded after court ruling
A Commission judge had affirmed a serious citation against Hamilton Die Cast under the eye and face protection standard. The Sixth Circuit vacated that finding and returned the case to the Commission. Following the court's direction, the Commission remanded the citation item to the judge for…
Bunge Corporation
Grain-dust citations vacated
OSHA cited three Bunge grain-handling facilities under the mineral-dust provisions of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1000. The Commission held that Table Z-3 applies only to mineral dusts and did not cover organic soybean or grain dust under its inert-or-nuisance-dust listing. It also rejected the alternative…
Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Group, Division of United Technologies Corporation
Three open-tank items vacated and goggles item affirmed without precedential value
Pratt & Whitney used open tanks containing hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, cleaner, and water to pickle aircraft parts at its Middletown facility. The Commission vacated an employee-instruction item because orientation, on-the-job training, tank warning signs, employee experience, and the obvious…
Granite City Terminals Corporation
Clam shell bucket access citation vacated
Granite City used a crane-mounted clam shell bucket to move employees between its Mississippi River dock and barges when low water made the access methods specifically listed in the standard unreasonable. The Commission held that the Secretary bore the burden of proving that this alternative was…
Daniel Construction Company
General duty citation vacated because MSHA authority preempted OSHA
Daniel Construction was building a secondary crusher structure on the surface of a mine when OSHA cited it under the general duty clause. The Commission adopted the judge's conclusion that section 4(b)(1) precluded OSHA jurisdiction because MSHA had statutory authority and had promulgated standards…
Chicago Zoological Society
Citations vacated because zoo operator was a political subdivision
The Chicago Zoological Society operated Brookfield Zoo under an agreement with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and contested whether it was an employer covered by the OSH Act. The Commission majority held that the Society was a political subdivision excluded from the Act's definition of…
Cuyahoga Valley Railway Company
Secretary allowed to withdraw citation
The Secretary of Labor asked to withdraw the citation against Cuyahoga Valley Railway Company. The Commission granted the motion and cited a Sixth Circuit decision involving the United Transportation Union. The short release does not identify the cited conditions, standards, or proposed penalty.
Anoplate Corporation
Mixed ruling on plating, chemical storage, and recordkeeping items
Anoplate operated an electroplating and metal-finishing plant with open chemical tanks, chemical storage, spray painting, and compressed-air work. The Commission affirmed a nonserious eye-protection violation because dipping racks created a significant risk of harmful splashes, and it assessed $25…
United States Steel Corporation
Three molten-metal explosion items affirmed and willful classification reversed
U.S. Steel was cited under the general duty clause for allowing water or ice at seven locations where molten iron or steel could be released at its South Works plant. The Commission focused on whether molten metal could realistically reach and encapsulate the water, creating an explosion capable of…
R.D. Anderson Construction
Asbestos monitoring item affirmed but labeling item vacated
R.D. Anderson was renovating a university building where asbestos-containing floor fill was exposed during construction. The Commission held that initial air monitoring was required because loose asbestos, asbestos in settled dust, dry sweeping, and air currents made release into the air more…
Nu-Way Mobile Home Manufacturing, Inc.
General-industry fall citation vacated because construction standards applied
Nu-Way built mobile homes from the ground up on an assembly line, and OSHA cited the general-industry personal-protective-equipment rule after employees worked on a roof without safety belts. The Commission held that the work was construction because the nature of the work, not its factory…
L.R. Willson & Sons, Inc.
Perimeter-net citation reinstated after court remand
The Commission had previously vacated a serious citation alleging that L.R. Willson failed to use perimeter netting against exterior falls during structural steel erection. The D.C. Circuit reversed that decision and directed the Commission to reinstate the citation. Following the court's mandate…
A. Amorello & Sons, Inc.
Backup-alarm violation affirmed as other-than-serious after court remand
On remand from the First Circuit, the Commission reconsidered whether a front-end loader operated in reverse without a working backup alarm. Two OSHA officials observed the loader backing without hearing an alarm, and a later demonstration showed that the alarm did not sound until an operator…
New Boston Coke Corporation
Settlement approved after bankruptcy authorization
New Boston Coke submitted proof that the bankruptcy court had authorized its trustee to execute a settlement agreement. Counsel for the Secretary, the company, and the union had already signed the agreement. The Commission approved the settlement, and the short release does not identify the…
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.