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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Astra Pharmaceutical Products, Inc.
Chemical-protection penalty reduced to $500
A reactor overflow sprayed an Astra operator with toxic chemicals and seriously injured him, while other employees responding to the incident were also exposed. The serious violation arose because Astra required goggles, respirators, and gloves but not impervious full-body protection such as boots…
General Motors Corporation, Terex Division
Settlement remanded for union participation
General Motors and the Secretary reached a settlement, but the affected employees' union said it had no chance to participate in the negotiations and lacked proper notice of the filed proposal. The Commission held that a union with party status must be allowed meaningful participation in settlement…
Texaco, Inc.
Settlement order became final after divided Commission review
Texaco and the Secretary settled four citation items, but the employees' union objected to withdrawal of three items and sought to continue their prosecution. The two participating commissioners disagreed over whether employees with party status could raise settlement objections unrelated to the…
Babcock and Wilcox Company
Settlement agreement approved
Babcock and Wilcox Company and the Secretary entered into a stipulation and settlement agreement. The short Commission order does not identify the underlying citations, standards, penalties, or settlement terms. The Commission approved the agreement and resolved the proceeding on the negotiated…
Whirlpool Corporation
Settlement disapproved for failure to serve unions
Whirlpool and the Secretary submitted a settlement that reduced an alleged violation from serious to other than serious. The local and international unions objected, but the record showed only workplace posting, not formal service of the agreement on the employee representatives. The parties also…
Hearst Corporation, Pejepscot Paper Corporation
Settlement remanded for union objections
Hearst and the Secretary submitted a settlement that the judge approved after finding that the employees' union had adequate notice. The Commission held that the union must be told when a proposal has actually been filed for approval so it knows that its ten-day objection period has begun. Earlier…
General Motors Corporation, Fisher Body Division
Noise case dismissed without prejudice
OSHA alleged an other-than-serious noise violation at General Motors, but its counsel sought a postponement and broad additional discovery only one day before the hearing. The judge denied those requests and dismissed the case when the Secretary said the case could not proceed. The Commission found…
Whirlpool Corporation
Union allowed to challenge entire settlement
A Whirlpool employees' union objected to a settlement that changed an alleged violation from serious to other than serious. The judge ruled that the union could challenge any part of the settlement, not only the abatement period, and could present evidence on whether the agreement was appropriate…
Wisconsin Steel, Division of Envirodyne Co.
Settlement objections remanded for reasoned findings
Wisconsin Steel and the Secretary entered a settlement that the employees' union opposed. The judge heard the union's objections and overruled them, but did not explain whether he found the union lacked standing or rejected the objections on their merits. The Commission held that an authorized…
Standard Motor Products Company
Power-press guarding citation vacated for insufficient proof
A mechanical power press had a six-inch opening in its hairpin guard for ejecting finished parts, and a box covered that opening during OSHA's inspection. OSHA theorized that an employee might remove the box and reach through the opening to clear a jam or adjust stock. The Commission held that the…
Bechtel Power Corporation
Unsafe scaffold access affirmed after fatal fall
A Bechtel pipe welder fell 24 feet and died after reaching from a scaffold ladder toward a platform whose access was obstructed by an overhead beam. The Commission held that the mobile-scaffold rule requires genuinely safe and proper access, not merely the presence of a ladder. Bechtel could have…
Englehard Industries
Union objection remanded and companion settlement approved
The decision resolved two related Englehard proceedings. In docket 78-2880, the employees' union objected to a settlement provision reducing a violation from willful to serious. The Commission affirmed the judge's ruling that the union had a right to be heard and remanded that docket for further…
General Motors Corporation, Central Foundries Division
Welder deenergization violation affirmed
A General Motors employee was electrocuted while changing the polarity of a welder whose 440-volt input remained energized. The Commission defined the recognized hazard as electrical shock from energized parts during equipment servicing, rather than the precise sequence that caused the fatality. GM…
Mobil Oil Corporation
Employee settlement objections must be considered
Mobil and the Secretary settled a general duty citation concerning employees who manually gauged petroleum from floating-roof tanks. The employees' union objected that ten-minute radio checks during a less critical period were inadequate and sought continuous visual contact with a second worker…
Consolidated Rail Corporation
Noise, eye protection, and respirator violations affirmed
A Conrail shop employee worked near a running locomotive at about twice the allowable noise exposure without hearing protection despite prior requests for it. The Commission held that EPA and Federal Railroad Administration noise rules did not preempt OSHA from requiring personal protective…
Dillingham Tug & Barge Corporation
Seaman fatality citation vacated under Coast Guard preemption
A Dillingham seaman died after falling from a mooring buoy and being crushed between the buoy and a tugboat on navigable waters. OSHA issued a general duty citation, but Dillingham argued that Coast Guard regulation displaced OSHA authority over seamen's working conditions. The Commission held that…
Consolidated Rail Corporation
Record-access citation vacated under then-controlling precedent
Conrail refused to give an OSHA compliance officer access to injury and illness records, relying on Commission precedent that treated railroad recordkeeping as exempt because of Federal Railroad Administration rules. The Commission had since overruled that precedent and held that railroad employers…
Power Plant Division, Brown & Root, Inc.
Fatal duct fall citation affirmed
A Brown & Root welder fell 43 feet to his death from an elevated surface inside a large air duct while inspecting a defective weld. The surface had been used for assembly work and remained available for inspection and cleanup, but its open side had only a low single wire rope rather than a standard…
Cincinnati Gas and Electric Co.
Judge's decision affirmed by agreement
Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company and the Secretary jointly asked the Commission to decline review. The Commission granted the motion and affirmed the administrative law judge's decision. It gave that decision the precedential value of an unreviewed judge's decision. Because it declined review…
Chesapeake Operating Company
Deck-cargo item vacated and hardhat item affirmed
Chesapeake, a Baltimore stevedoring company, had employees clearing snow and ice from modular-home sections stowed on a ship's deck without fall protection. A majority agreed that the cited fall-protection standard applied to deck cargo, but the item was still vacated because one Commissioner found…
Little Beaver Creek Ranches, Inc.
General duty citation affirmed for power-line hazard
Little Beaver Creek Ranches used a crew of high-school-aged summer employees to move irrigation pipe near an energized 7,200-volt power line. One employee died and three were injured when workers raised a pipe to remove an animal and the pipe contacted the line. The Commission found that the ranch…
United States Steel Corporation
Molten-metal lance-change citation vacated
U.S. Steel required millwrights to replace failed oxygen lances above open-hearth furnaces containing molten metal. OSHA alleged that a lance change could trap water beneath molten metal and cause an explosion. The Commission held that the judge improperly decided the case on broader eruption…
Metro Electric, Inc.
Serious guardrail violation affirmed
Metro Electric was cited for a serious violation of the guardrail standard at 29 C.F.R. § 1926.500(d)(2). The administrative law judge affirmed the citation and assessed a $50 penalty. After reviewing the record and the parties' arguments, the Commission agreed with the judge's reasoning and…
Prestressed Systems, Inc.
Safety-belt citation remanded under revised precedent
Prestressed Systems contested a personal protective equipment citation involving the use of safety belts under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.28(a). The administrative law judge vacated the citation because the Secretary had not shown that safety belts were feasible, relying on then-current Commission precedent…
Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation
Crane-boarding citation vacated
A motor inspector at Jones & Laughlin's Aliquippa steel mill died after attempting to board a moving overhead crane without first notifying the operator. The Secretary alleged that the company failed to instruct workers about safe boarding and failed to enforce an effective crane-boarding safety…
General Electric Company
Press-guarding violation affirmed as serious
General Electric used a powder compacting press whose point-of-operation guard had to be removed for inspection and maintenance. With a selector key broken in the run position, an operator used the guard microswitch to jog the press, accidentally activated the rams, and suffered crushed fingers…
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Welding-ventilation violation reduced to nonserious
Bethlehem Steel welders at its Sparrows Point shipyard worked in a small ship bulkhead where ventilation did not prevent a visible welding haze. OSHA sampling showed one welder was exposed to fluorides at more than twice the referenced safe level, and the negative-pressure respirator provided did…
Consolidated Rail Corporation
Repair-pit and recordkeeping items vacated
OSHA cited Conrail after inspecting a diesel shop in Buffalo, New York, alleging unguarded locomotive repair pits and failure to maintain an occupational injury and illness log. The Commission vacated the pit-guarding item because its then-current precedent treated a Federal Railroad Administration…
Marson Corporation
Mixer-guarding violation affirmed
Marson manufactured autobody filler in a mixer whose rotating blades were covered by a removable steel grate. Workers sometimes removed the grate while adding fiberglass, and a new employee suffered an arm amputation while feeding material into the running mixer. The Commission found that the…
Special Coating Systems of New Mexico, Inc.
Late contest remanded for possible relief
An administrative law judge found that Special Coating Systems received the citation properly and mailed its notice of contest after the statutory deadline. The employer challenged service and also asked the Commission to excuse the late filing under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b). Because…
Ackermann Enterprises, Inc.
Plain-view evidence admitted and case remanded
An OSHA compliance officer waiting with permission in Ackermann's construction-site parking lot saw three employees riding in a tractor's front bucket and photographed them from about 300 to 350 feet away. A judge excluded that evidence and vacated the general duty clause citation because the…
Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
Platform citation remanded for de minimis findings
An administrative law judge had vacated a citation alleging that Anheuser-Busch violated the platform-guarding standard at 29 C.F.R. § 1910.23(c)(1). The Eighth Circuit reversed, holding that the cited surfaces were platforms under the regulatory definition and ordering that the citation be…
Weisblatt Electric Company, Inc.
Multi-employer fall-hazard citations vacated
Weisblatt, an elevator subcontractor, sent two employees to a renovation site to determine whether conditions had improved enough for work to resume. They encountered unguarded openings, floors, ramps, stairs, and unfilled pan-type stair treads that Weisblatt neither created nor controlled. The…
Duggan & Marcon, Inc.
Dismissal vacated for possible settlement
An administrative law judge dismissed Duggan & Marcon's notice of contest. After that order, the Secretary provided correspondence showing that the parties were discussing a possible settlement, although no proposed settlement was submitted to the Commission. The Commission directed review, vacated…
Missouri Farmers Association, d/b/a Odessa MFA Exchange
One item vacated and one remanded
The Eighth Circuit returned this case to the Commission for entry of a modified order consistent with the court's opinion. The Commission vacated citation item two. It remanded citation item one to the chief administrative law judge for further proceedings and entry of the modified order. The short…
Furnco Construction Company
Settlement approved and one item withdrawn
The Commission approved a settlement agreement between Furnco Construction Company and the Secretary. It also granted the Secretary's motion to withdraw citation item 4. At the parties' joint request, the Commission severed Furnco's case from J.L. Manta, Inc., OSHRC docket 78-4923. The short order…
Arkansas Rice Growers Cooperative Association
Roof-hatch citation vacated
An Arkansas Rice Growers employee died after an unsecured section of a hatchway cover gave way on the sixth-level roof of a by-products plant. OSHA cited the cooperative under two alternative general-industry standards for guarding floor openings. The Commission held that those standards did not…
Wheaton Injection Molding Company
Penalty decision vacated for lack of agreement
Wheaton and the Secretary filed a joint stipulation addressing serious violations and proposed penalties, but the company president attached a letter disputing whether the penalties were proper and stating that he did not expect to pay a fine. The judge treated the violations as resolved and…
Samsonite Corporation
Discovery dismissal reversed and citations remanded
OSHA cited Samsonite for alleged excessive noise, inadequate hearing protection and conservation measures, insufficient skin protection from epoxy, and ergonomic stress from repetitive work. The judge treated the Secretary's late responses to requests for admission as binding, dismissed the case…
Berglund-Cherne General Contractors
Rebar impalement citation vacated
Berglund-Cherne employees laid masonry blocks near reinforcing steel that protruded 18 to 24 inches from the same floor level. OSHA cited the company under a standard barring employees from working above unprotected vertical rebar because of impalement hazards. The Secretary argued that workers…
Consolidated Rail Corporation
Guarding items vacated and first-aid item affirmed
OSHA cited Conrail's Ohio diesel repair shop for an unguarded drop-table opening, incomplete safety chains on locomotive work ramps, and lack of trained first-aid personnel when no hospital was nearby. The Commission held that a Federal Railroad Administration policy statement exercised authority…
The Shenango Company
Asbestos-monitoring violation affirmed as nonserious
Shenango removed furnace linings made largely of asbestos with jackhammers and pneumatic tools, creating visible dust clouds, but did not monitor employee exposure. The judge found that asbestos material entered the air but vacated the citation because the Secretary had not specifically proved…
Consolidated Rail Corporation
Guarding items vacated and safety-shoe items affirmed
OSHA cited Conrail's locomotive repair shops in Enola and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for unguarded repair pits and work platforms and for not requiring steel-toed safety shoes. The Commission vacated the guarding items because a Federal Railroad Administration policy statement displaced OSHA…
Globe Industries, Inc.
Conveyor guardrail citation vacated
Globe employees climbed onto two elevated conveyor belts about once a week to clean guide rollers while production was shut down and locked out. OSHA cited the company for failing to install guardrails along the open sides, treating the conveyor tops as platforms under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.23(c)(1)…
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Fall-protection and crane citations vacated
A Bethlehem Steel rigger worked near the unguarded edge of a furnace top without tying off, and OSHA cited the general personal protective equipment standard. Commissioner Cleary concluded that the standard covered safety belts but vacated the item because prior administrative decisions had failed…
Ronsco Construction Co., Inc.
Falling-object citation vacated
Ronsco built plank-covered structures over two entrances to protect workers from falling objects at a New York City construction project. The structures did not cover each entrance's full width, and other contractors' employees sometimes walked around them, but OSHA did not observe Ronsco's two…
Daniel International, Inc.
Falling-material general duty citation vacated
At a nuclear power plant project, ironworkers released a crane line before bolting a 4.5-ton girder, causing it to fall 120 feet and injure two employees below. OSHA did not cite the specific steel-erection bolting standard because Daniel had adequately instructed the ironworkers, but instead…
Ultimate Distribution Systems, Inc.
Trailer wheel-blocking violation affirmed
An Ultimate Distribution employee suffered a broken back when a trailer moved away from a loading dock and his forklift fell into the gap. No witness directly testified that wheel chocks were absent, and the judge vacated the citation as unsupported by the circumstantial evidence. The Commission…
D. F. Goldsmith Chemical & Metal Corp.
Settlement dismissal conditionally affirmed
The Secretary agreed to withdraw the charges against D. F. Goldsmith with prejudice, and the company agreed to abatement measures addressing mercury exposure. The judge dismissed the case under that settlement. Because the record lacked certification that affected employees had received notice, the…
Duriron Company, Inc.
Foundry safety settlement approved
OSHA cited Duriron's Ohio foundry for a serious personal protective equipment violation and a repeated general duty clause violation. The parties settled all disputed issues before a hearing, properly notified affected employees, and received no employee objections. The Commission majority approved…
Borton, Inc.
Scaffold access-ladder violation affirmed
A Borton employee entered a grain silo without using the available ladder, landed on an interior scaffold about 123 feet above the floor, broke through a plank, and died in the fall. The Commission held that the scaffold access standard requires an employer not only to supply a ladder or equivalent…
BJ-Hughes, Inc.
Offshore fall-protection case remanded under general-industry law
BJ-Hughes provided cementing services on an offshore oil drilling rig where an employee worked unsecured on a narrow ledge about 50 feet above the rig floor. Pressure expelled a cementing plug, which struck the employee and caused a fatal fall. OSHA cited the construction personal protective…
Huber, Hunt & Nichols, Inc.
Settlement agreement approved
The Commission approved the parties' stipulation and settlement agreement in the Huber, Hunt & Nichols case. The short order provides no facts about the employer's work, the alleged violations, or the settlement terms. It also does not identify any cited standards or penalties.
Pinkston-Hollar, Inc.
Secretary allowed to withdraw citations
After confirming that it had jurisdiction over the Pinkston-Hollar case, the Commission granted the Secretary's motion to withdraw the citations. The short order does not identify the underlying allegations, cited standards, or proposed penalties. It gives no additional reason for the withdrawal.
Pittsburgh Forgings Company
Discovery sanction vacating citation items affirmed
During discovery, the Secretary repeatedly filed late responses and did not fully explain why requested inspection materials were missing or unavailable. The judge found that this disrupted Pittsburgh Forgings' preparation and vacated only citation items whose underlying conditions had already been…
Wenczel Tile Company; R. T. Vanderbilt Company
Asbestos citations vacated for lack of knowledge
Wenczel used NYTAL 99 industrial talc supplied by R. T. Vanderbilt, and OSHA alleged that the product contained asbestos fibers requiring caution labels, exposure monitoring, and employee medical examinations. The Commission agreed with the judge that NYTAL 99 contained asbestos fibers. It…
The Stacey Manufacturing Company
Shear item vacated and punch item affirmed
OSHA cited Stacey for inadequate guarding on a large steel shear and a hole-punch machine. The Commission vacated the shear item because horizontal pipes and bars greatly restricted access to the blade and hold-downs, employees had no operational reason to place their hands there, and the Secretary…
Hermitage Concrete Pipe Co.
Silica overexposure treated as serious
Hermitage Concrete Pipe employees were exposed to respirable silica dust concentrations as high as seven times the permissible limit while handling sand and cement and finishing conduit. After a federal court rejected the Commission's earlier seriousness test and remanded the case, the Commission…
Kansas City Power & Light Company
Coal-pulverizer hazard recognized and case remanded
Fifteen employees were injured when a coal pulverizer exploded at Kansas City Power & Light's generating plant. OSHA alleged that control circuitry could abruptly stop a hot, loaded pulverizer without purging coal dust and volatile gases, increasing the explosion risk. The judge found no recognized…
Cornell & Company, Inc.
Suspended-load general duty citation vacated
Cornell employees installing a lower beam worked beneath an upper beam suspended from the same crane hook. OSHA cited the general duty clause for exposing them to a suspended-load hazard. The Commission found that the crane was a truck crane and that 29 C.F.R. § 1926.550(b)(2) incorporated an ANSI…
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.