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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General Motors Corporation, Frigidaire Division
Power-press control distance violation affirmed
Testing showed that a mechanical press took 0.60 to 0.63 seconds to stop, requiring its two-hand controls to be about 39.69 inches from the die, while the actual distance was 25 inches. The Commission held that the safety-distance rule applied even if the press was intended as a no-hands-in-die…
Bunkoff Construction Co., Inc.
Jackhammer foot-shield citation vacated
OSHA cited a jackhammer operator's use of ordinary work shoes without metal foot shields. The Commission agreed that the construction PPE standard applied, but the majority vacated for different reasons: Chairman Cleary found the Secretary had not shown that a reasonable person would recognize a…
L.A. Dreyfus Company
Machine-guarding settlement approved
The parties settled a machine-guarding citation originally classified as repeated with a proposed $360 penalty. The settlement reclassified the violation as serious but not repeated, reduced the penalty to $200, recorded abatement, withdrew the employer's contest and the Secretary's review…
Coeur D'Alene Tribal Farm
Tribal-enterprise coverage remanded
The judge held that the Occupational Safety and Health Act applied to the Coeur D'Alene Tribal Farm despite its status as an enterprise of an Indian tribal government. After issuing a separate decision holding that OSHA could not be applied inconsistently with tribal treaty rights, the Commission…
R. Zoppo Co., Inc.
Serious trenching violation affirmed
R. Zoppo challenged the judge's finding that a trench was inadequately sloped and the classification of the violation as serious. After reviewing the record, the Commission adopted the judge's findings and affirmed the serious trenching violation and $750 penalty. Commissioner Cottine concurred but…
Benton Foundry, Inc.
Failure-to-abate dismissal remanded
The judge vacated a failure-to-abate notification carrying a proposed $5,000 penalty because the Secretary did not file a complaint or answer the employer's motion. On review, the Secretary asserted that the notification had been incorporated into a complaint in a related docket and the omission of…
CMH Company, Inc.; Carhar Contracting Company, Inc.
Correct employer substituted after fatal accident
Two Carhar employees died in a sewer manhole, but OSHA cited the closely related CMH company after relying on a foreman's mistaken identification. Both corporations had the same owners and officers, and their shared vice-president had assigned the project from CMH to Carhar and received the…
Brown & Root, Power Plant Division
Advisory crane provisions unenforceable
OSHA cited Brown & Root under a construction crane standard incorporating industry provisions that said operators “should” avoid carrying loads over people and “should” provide level footing for outriggers. The Commission held that the incorporated source documents expressly treated “should”…
Raybestos Friction Materials Company
Settlement rejected for notice and completeness defects
OSHA cited Raybestos Friction Materials Company over employee medical information, access to asbestos-related medical records, and injury and illness recordkeeping. The Secretary and Raybestos submitted a settlement, which the judge approved. The Commission found that the proposal lacked proof that…
Forte Brothers, Inc.
Sua sponte discovery order vacated
The judge ordered the Secretary to produce documents claimed to be protected by the informer's privilege and work-product doctrine, even though the employer had not filed a motion to compel. The Commission held that a Rule 34 request and objection remain outside judicial involvement unless the…
Stripe-A-Zone
New citations allowed after dismissal without prejudice
OSHA first cited Stripe-A-Zone after inspecting a freeway worksite where a fatality had occurred, then withdrew that citation without prejudice. After the withdrawal order became final, OSHA issued new citations based on the same inspection and facts but with different legal allegations and…
C. R. Burnett and Sons, Inc. and Harllee Farms
Farm labor camps covered by OSHA standards
C. R. Burnett and Sons and Harllee Farms operated rent-free temporary camps for migrant farm workers. The judge vacated citations for shelter, heating, sanitation, lighting, and OSHA-notice violations because the workers were not required to live in the camps. The Commission held that camp…
Boam Company
Identification rule applies to job-made chain slings
Boam Company used a job-made steel chain sling to lift pipe onto a truck. The sling broke, and the falling pipe fatally injured an employee. The judge vacated a citation alleging that the sling lacked identification for its size, grade, rated capacity, and manufacturer because he read the rule as…
Erskine-Fraser Co.
Unguarded girder citation affirmed
Steel-erection employees used an unguarded concrete girder 28 to 30 feet above the ground as a walkway between piers. Although the general contractor was responsible for guardrails, the Commission held that each employer remained responsible for protecting its own employees and that Erskine-Fraser…
Marion Power Shovel Company, Inc.
Welder fall-protection citation affirmed
An employee operated a chipping hammer while standing unprotected on a small area of a large metal dipper back 8½ feet above the floor. The Commission held that the specific welding fall-protection standard did not require the Secretary to prove feasibility as part of the prima facie case…
Morrison-Knudsen & Associates
Exposed tunnel power cable violation found willful
Morrison-Knudsen was the prime contractor on a subway tunnel project where energized 480-volt and 7,200-volt cables lay on tunnel floors exposed to water, mud, debris, concrete, and moving equipment. The judge affirmed a single serious violation but refused to let the Secretary amend the case to…
The Anaconda Company, Wire & Cable Div.
Settlement approval set aside for revision and service proof
The Secretary and Anaconda jointly told the Commission that their submitted settlement did not accurately reflect their agreement and asked to replace it. The Commission set aside the judge's approval and remanded the case. It also found the settlement's employee-service certification inadequate…
The Anaconda Company, Wire & Cable Division
Settlement approval set aside for revision and service proof
The Secretary and Anaconda jointly told the Commission that their submitted settlement did not accurately reflect their agreement and asked to replace it. The Commission set aside the judge's approval and remanded the case. It also found the settlement's employee-service certification inadequate…
Texland Drilling Corporation
Safety-belt citation vacated for unpreventable misconduct
A Texland Drilling derrick worker removed his safety belt, moved from a platform onto a beam about 50 feet above the derrick floor, fell, and was killed. OSHA alleged that the company failed to require appropriate personal protective equipment. The Commission found that Texland had a written and…
Sam Hall & Sons, Inc.
Equipment lessor responsible for employees in unsafe trench
Sam Hall & Sons supplied boring equipment and two operators for a city pipeline project. The operators worked in a deep, nearly vertical trench with wet soil and spoil piled at its edge. The judge vacated the citations because the city created and supervised the trench. The Commission held that Sam…
ASARCO, Inc.
Union participation required before settlement approval
ASARCO and the Secretary submitted a settlement after the United Steelworkers local representing affected employees had elected party status. The agreement stated only that it had been posted and did not show that the union received it, agreed to it, or participated in negotiations. The Commission…
Leone Industries, Inc.
Repeated classification requires a decision
OSHA cited Leone Industries for repeated machine-guarding violations and proposed penalties totaling $4,200. The judge found two serious violations and assessed $1,000 for each, but did not decide whether they were repeated because the penalties fit within the serious-violation limit. The…
Vampco Metal Products, Inc.
Press-brake guarding dispute remanded under employer defense burdens
Vampco manufactured custom metal products with press brakes whose operators held material near the point of operation. After Vampco did not abate an uncontested machine-guarding citation, the judge vacated failure-to-correct items for two presses because he found that feasible guarding had not been…
Plum Creek Lumber Company
Accurate hearing transcript remains in the public record
The Secretary asked the Commission to remove about eight pages from a hearing transcript, primarily remarks by the judge about an alleged ex parte communication. The Commission held that the Act and its rules require public records and verbatim hearing transcripts, and the disputed material was not…
Durant Elevator, A Division of Scoular-Bishop Grain Co.
Ammonia nurse tanks qualify as farm vehicles
Durant sold anhydrous ammonia to local farmers and transported it in 1,000-gallon nurse tanks mounted on four-wheel trailers. OSHA cited Durant because the trailers lacked the self-energizing brakes required for full trailers transporting ammonia. The Commission found that the nurse tank trailers…
Ferro Corporation (Electro Division)
Interlocutory appeal accepted
Ferro Corporation asked the Commission to accept an interlocutory appeal while the underlying case was still pending. The Commission granted the petition. The official order does not identify the issue presented, the cited standards, or the next procedural step.
Stearns-Roger, Inc.
Serious fall-protection violation affirmed after delayed citation
Stearns-Roger had 10 to 25 ironworkers performing bolting work on narrow steel beams 94 to 120 feet above the ground. Employees tied off while stationary but often walked between connection points without fall protection. The judge vacated the citation because OSHA issued it 139 days after the…
American Package Company, Inc.
Wrapper citation affirmed and paper-cutter citation vacated
American Package manufactured paper boxes with wrapping machines and guillotine paper cutters. The Commission found that wrapper operators could activate a cycle and then reach into the crushing point of operation. It rejected the company's impossibility defense because the company had not tried…
Asarco, Inc., El Paso Division, Hughes Tool Company
Complaints required in regular proceedings
The Secretary did not file timely complaints after ASARCO and Hughes Tool contested OSHA citations. The judge treated the citations as the complaints and ordered the employers to answer. The Commission held that a citation and complaint are separate documents and that a complaint is mandatory in…
Asarco, Inc. El Paso Division Hughes Tool Company
Complaints required in regular proceedings
The Secretary did not file timely complaints after ASARCO and Hughes Tool contested OSHA citations. The judge treated the citations as the complaints and ordered the employers to answer. The Commission held that a citation and complaint are separate documents and that a complaint is mandatory in…
Austin Building Company
Gas-cylinder item affirmed and fall-protection issue remanded
Austin employees welded near an unguarded edge on top of a precipitator where a fall could be nearly 80 feet. OSHA also found an acetylene cylinder ready for use and an oxygen cylinder lying unsecured on the floor. The Commission held that the compressed-gas rule requires cylinders to remain…
Metropak Containers Corp.
Protected noise-study evidence excluded after unauthorized disclosure
The Secretary used a private expert to study engineering controls for a noise citation at Metropak's facility under an order limiting the information to the case. An OSHA compliance officer showed one of the protected reports to an area director, who disclosed it to a Metropak competitor. The judge…
Navajo Forest Products Industries
Tribal enterprise not subject to the OSH Act under Navajo treaty rights
Navajo Forest Products Industries was created and operated by the Navajo tribe on the reservation to develop timber resources, provide employment, and support tribal services. OSHA cited the enterprise after workplace inspections, and the parties agreed that it fit the Act's literal definition of…
Donald Harris, Inc.
Unguarded scaffold violation properly classified as repeated
OSHA found the company's foreman working on a scaffold about 15 feet high without a standard guardrail. Donald Harris argued that the citation should be vacated because it was not invited to join the inspection, but the Commission found no prejudice to its defense. The company had two earlier final…
Fleetwood Homes of Texas, Inc.
Movable assembly spanners classified as scaffolds
Fleetwood employees used aluminum spanners between mobile-home assembly decks to work on the ends of homes. The unguarded spanners were about four feet two inches and seven feet above the floor and were removed and repositioned every two hours as homes advanced through production. The Commission…
Brown & Root, Inc.
Falling-object hazard required stronger controls than a general work rule
Brown & Root employees removed heavy steel whalers from concrete forms 30 to 40 feet above other employees working near a spillway wall. An unsecured whaler fell and fatally struck a worker below. The Commission found that falling objects were a recognized construction hazard and that tying off the…
Babcock & Wilcox Co.
Silica settlement approved subject to service on the union
OSHA cited excess respirable silica exposure for two foundry shakeout employees. The settlement reclassified the violations as other than serious, eliminated the $480 penalty, extended abatement to July 1, 1979, and required engineering controls, monitoring, reports, and respiratory protection. A…
Lutz, Daily & Brain-Consulting Engineers
Nearman asbestos case severed from Kaw Valley review
OSHA cited the engineering firm for not monitoring asbestos concentrations or posting warning signs at the Kaw Valley and Nearman Creek power-station projects. The judge consolidated the cases for hearing and vacated both citations. The Secretary sought Commission review of findings concerning Kaw…
Otis Elevator Company
Settled dockets severed from noise review
OSHA issued seven citations after inspecting Otis Elevator's Ohio iron foundry, and the resulting contests were consolidated. The parties settled most citations, the Secretary withdrew one remaining crane item, and the judge vacated a repeated noise citation after a hearing. The Secretary sought…
Darragh Company
Feed deliveries treated as exempt agricultural operations
Darragh contracted with farmers to raise its chickens and sent employees to deliver feed into bins on the farms. The drivers had to climb sixteen-to-eighteen-foot fixed ladders that did not meet several general industry ladder requirements. The Commission focused on the specific task that exposed…
R. Zoppo Co. Inc.
Excavation citation remains vacated without merits review
The judge vacated a citation alleging that R. Zoppo failed to protect excavation sides, slopes, and faces by accepted engineering methods. Neither party petitioned for review. Although review was directed on the excavation issue, the Secretary stated that the record was not an appropriate vehicle…
Independence Foundry & Manufacturing Co. Inc.
Noise and silica abatement extension approved in full
Independence Foundry sought another extension of final abatement dates for excessive noise and airborne silica dust. The parties agreed to September 1, 1980 and detailed interim measures, including respirator and hearing-protection programs, employee training, medical and audiometric review…
National Steel and Shipbuilding Company
Settlement remanded for proof of employee service
The parties agreed to affirm one shipyard citation item with no penalty, withdraw four items, and test a flanged-hood engineering control for lead and zinc chloride. Their agreement also stated that the affirmed violation could not support a future repeat citation. The Commission held that…
Snider Industries Inc.
Oral settlement remanded for a written agreement and employee service
Snider and the Secretary placed an oral settlement on the hearing record under which Snider withdrew its contest but did not admit violating the Act. The judge approved $3,600 in penalties and stated that the Act and cited standards had been violated. The Commission held that the judge could not…
S & S Diving Company
Divers and tenders were employees under the Act
S & S harvested geoducks and other products from Puget Sound using divers and tenders whom it characterized as independent contractors. The Commission evaluated the economic realities of the relationship rather than relying only on common-law labels. S & S paid the workers, controlled the vessel…
Weldship Corporation
Settlement remanded for abatement and employee-notice defects
Weldship and the Secretary agreed to withdraw one citation item, reduce total penalties from $2,160 to $1,730, and have Weldship withdraw its contest. The agreement stated that Weldship did not admit liability but did not say whether or when the cited conditions had been abated. It also lacked…
General Motors Corp. (Inland Div.)
TDI-related respiratory illnesses had to be recorded
Three General Motors employees developed respiratory problems after beginning work in areas that used toluene diisocyanate, or TDI. Each employee was hospitalized for about a week, and personal physicians linked the illnesses or their aggravation to fumes or TDI exposure. General Motors transferred…
Continental Grain Company
Review petition withdrawn by joint motion
All parties jointly asked to withdraw the petition for discretionary review and requested final disposition. The Commission granted the motion. The official order does not identify the underlying citation, standards, or settlement terms.
Capital City Excavating Co., Inc.
Late contest leaves trench citations final
OSHA sent Capital City trench citations and a proposed $550 penalty by certified mail. A clerical employee accepted them at the company's office on September 13, 1978, but the company did not mail its contest until October 6 or 7. The Commission held that delivery to an employee who accepts…
Missouri Farmer's Association inc.
Non-admission clauses do not defeat settlements
Three employers submitted settlements that withdrew their notices of contest but stated that they did not admit the alleged violations. The judge rejected the agreements because of that exculpatory language. The Commission held that settlement agreements may contain non-admission clauses when they…
GAF Corp.
Comprehensive settlement approved despite exculpatory clause
GAF, the Secretary, and the union resolved numerous citation items through a comprehensive settlement. The agreement included a clause stating that the withdrawal, abatement, and penalty payment could not be treated as an admission or violation finding in OSHA matters involving GAF facilities other…
Druth Packaging Corporation
Noise violations affirmed but abatement dates remanded
Employees at two corrugators were exposed to excessive noise and did not use available hearing protection. The Secretary's acoustical expert identified feasible rigid or flexible barriers that could reduce noise by three to eight decibels. The Commission affirmed the judge's finding that Druth…
PPG Industries (Caribe a Corporation)
Mixed mercury and respirator ruling left unreviewed
The judge vacated two citation items involving mercury exposure limits and feasible controls. He found a respirator fit-and-seal violation but classified it as de minimis. The Secretary did not wish to pursue review, while PPG sought to preserve the vacated items and eliminate the de minimis…
Southwestern Electric Power Company
Unguarded lathe chucks remain de minimis
Southwestern Electric Power Company did not guard the rotating chucks on two lathes, contrary to the general machine-guarding standard. The judge reduced the alleged nonserious violations to de minimis because the hazards were too slight to require abatement or a penalty. The Commission affirmed…
Tunnel Electric Construction Co.
Exposed energized tunnel cables support serious violation
Energized 480-volt and 7,200-volt cables lay in mud, water, debris, and hardened concrete in subway tunnels where heavy equipment and employees operated. The Commission held that the rule requiring cables to be elevated or covered was not vague. The cables had suffered repeated damage, and their…
Weatherby Engineering Company
Respirator case severed from platform review
OSHA issued separate cases after one inspection of Weatherby's offshore drilling-rig module fabrication workplace. The judge consolidated the cases and affirmed a respirator breathing-air citation in Docket 78-0611 without a penalty. Commission review was directed only on a guardrail item in Docket…
National Roofing Corporation
Late contest remanded for inquiry into OSHA instructions
National Roofing filed its notice of contest after the statutory deadline. It claimed that the compliance officer had told it to put the citation away and forget about it. The judge dismissed the contest without investigating that allegation or making factual findings. The Commission set aside the…
Pullman Power Products
Inspection objections require proof of prejudice
A Pullman employee used an open-sided catwalk 50 to 60 feet above a floor, and employees also faced a tripping hazard. The judge vacated the citations because Pullman's foreman did not understand that an OSHA inspection was underway. The Commission held that the compliance officer had permission to…
Ladish Co. Tri-Clover Division
Post-1972 installations must comply with the full electrical code
Ladish installed electrical equipment in 1976 without enough access and working space for safe operation and maintenance. It admitted that the condition violated section 110-16(a) of the 1971 National Electrical Code but disputed whether OSHA had incorporated that provision. The Commission held…
Mayhew Steel Products, Inc.
Stamping-machine guard issue remanded for accidental exposure analysis
Employees held tools by hand while a foot-operated stamping machine rolled a steel ring stamp across them. The judge vacated the machine-guarding citation because operators kept their fingers outside the point of operation during normal use. The Commission held that this reasoning conflicted with…
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.