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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Austin Road
Repeated trench violation remanded under Potlatch test
Austin Road was cited for a serious and repeated violation after employees worked near an inadequately protected trench in hard or compact soil. The judge found the violation repeated under an older test. The Commission set aside that classification and remanded for reconsideration under its…
S. J. Groves & Sons Company
Citation vacated under appellate mandate
The Second Circuit reversed an earlier Commission decision and ordered the citation vacated. The Commission held that the appellate ruling was the law of the case and entered the required vacatur. This short order does not identify the underlying OSHA standard, penalty, or merits analysis.
OSCO Industries, Inc.
Protective-clothing citation vacated for lack of a recognized hazard
OSCO's foundry employees poured molten iron while wearing gloves, eye protection, and leather leggings. OSHA argued that flame-resistant jackets and trousers were also required. The Commission found that the ladles could not tip toward employees and that barriers, grills, sand, and dry floors…
Texaco, Inc.
Even split leaves benzene ruling in place
The judge affirmed three nonserious citations involving excessive benzene vapor exposure at Texaco's Port Arthur marine terminal. He declined to require the Secretary's proposed engineering controls because their economic feasibility was not established. The employee union sought review of…
Sunrise Plastering Corp.
Floor-opening citation affirmed against controlling subcontractor
Floor openings for elevators, stairs, and air ducts were left without covers or standard guardrails in a twelve-story construction project. Sunrise had performed the site's carpentry and OSHA compliance work, knew that other subcontractors had removed covers, and undertook to restore the…
Red Lobster Inns of America, Inc.
Site control creates liability for an ungrounded generator
Red Lobster coordinated subcontractors constructing a new restaurant through its on-site superintendent. A rented generator was used without grounding, exposing two subcontractor employees to possible death or serious injury. Although Red Lobster's own employee was not exposed, the Commission held…
Georgia Highway Express, Inc.
Freight-handling hazards require safety-toed shoes
Employees moved freight with hand trucks carrying up to 700 pounds and a forklift carrying palletized loads up to 2,000 pounds. They did not wear safety-toed shoes, and the terminal had recorded two foot or toe injuries over several years. The Commission agreed that falling freight and moving…
Circle T. Drilling Co., Inc.
Discovery dismissal reversed absent prejudice or defiance
The Secretary missed a deadline for answering interrogatories after the assigned attorney took emergency leave because of illness and two deaths in his family. The judge dismissed the case and vacated the citations and proposed penalties as a discovery sanction. The Commission found no deliberate…
Bushwick Commission Co., Inc.
Abatement-extension request did not contest the citation
Bushwick asked OSHA for 30 additional days to install machine guards. The judge treated the request as a notice contesting the affected citation items and later vacated those items when the Secretary did not plead them. The Commission held that the letter unambiguously sought only more abatement…
National Industrial Constructors, Inc.
Sixty-foot fall-hazard items remanded under current precedent
Four employees installing metal decking faced potential 60-foot falls from a floor edge and through an unguarded wall opening. The judge vacated the safety-net and personal-protective-equipment allegations but affirmed the wall-opening item. Intervening Commission decisions changed or clarified the…
H. B. Zachry Co. International
Backing alarm and shear-guard citations affirmed
A leased dump truck with an obstructed rear view had no reverse alarm or observer and struck and killed a person while backing. The Commission found that Zachry employees and employees of other contractors had access to the truck's path, so it affirmed a serious vehicle citation. It also affirmed a…
J. L. Foti Construction Company, Inc.
Scaffold and repeated-classification issues remanded
Employees worked on three levels of a tubular-frame scaffold without standard guardrails and toeboards. The judge found a serious violation but rejected repeated classification because the earlier citation involved a different scaffold standard. The Commission remanded for reconsideration of…
Texaco, Inc.
Explosion-proof lamp citation remanded for fuller analysis
A mechanic used an unapproved portable lamp and drop cord in a truck-maintenance bay containing a classified hazardous area near the floor. The judge vacated the citation because the Secretary did not prove that the lamp itself entered that eighteen-inch zone. The Secretary offered additional…
Kenneth P. Thompson Co., Inc.
Fire and fall items mostly affirmed, roof-storage item vacated
The masonry subcontractor faced several citations at a motel construction project. The Commission affirmed fire-extinguisher requirements for a gasoline refueling area and an LP-gas storage location, an uncovered floor-hole item, and serious wall-opening items. It reduced the storage-trailer access…
Farmers Export Company
Settlement with exculpatory language approved
The parties settled a serious-citation case arising from Farmers Export's Louisiana grain facility. The judge rejected the agreement because it denied admissions and restricted use of the settlement in later proceedings. A Commission majority held that the Commission may review settlements but…
Tri-City Construction Company
Willful power-line violation carries maximum penalty
A Tri-City employee operated a backhoe beneath a 7,200-volt overhead line and contacted it. The company knew the power-line hazard, did not use a designated observer while the backhoe traveled beneath the line, and could have sought de-energization or protective covering from the utility. The…
The Duriron Company, Inc.
Foundry case severed from heat-stress review
Two cases from concurrent inspections of Duriron's foundry were consolidated for hearing and decision. The judge resolved several molten-metal, machine-guarding, and grinding-machine items in Docket 77-2846, and the Commission corrected a clerical error to reflect that two grinding-machine items…
Geisler Ganz Corporation
Power-press guarding case remanded under Commission burden-of-proof rule
OSHA cited Geisler Ganz Corporation for failing to guard the point of operation on mechanical power presses. The judge vacated the citation because he placed the burden on the Secretary of Labor to prove that a particular guarding method was feasible and useful. Relying on its decision in F.H…
Midwest Steel Erection, Inc.
Temporary floor did not automatically satisfy fall-protection rule
Midwest Steel Erection employees installed temporary metal-grating floors at a power plant while working 30 to 80 feet above ground. Some employees at unprotected perimeters were not tied off. The judge found compliance because the grating qualified as one of the alternatives to safety nets listed…
Wallace Roofing Company, Inc.
Hot-tar face-shield violation reinstated
Wallace Roofing Company supplied a face shield to an employee who fed cold tar into a hot-tar kettle, but the employee was not wearing it during OSHA's inspection. The company knew the employee's use was erratic and gave repeated oral warnings, yet it imposed no discipline even though the employee…
National Manufacturing Company
Noise-case discovery remanded under trade-secret protections
OSHA cited National Manufacturing Company for excessive workplace noise and inadequate engineering or administrative controls. During discovery, the Secretary sought to have an outside acoustical expert inspect the plant, but the judge limited entry to federal employees because National claimed the…
New England Telephone and Telegraph Company
Power-line clearance citation affirmed under telecommunications rule
New England Telephone and Telegraph linemen used a truck-mounted boom to load a cable reel in the company's storage yard. The boom contacted a 13.2 kV power line, killing one employee and severely injuring another. The judge applied the general-industry crane rule, but the Commission held that the…
Suffolk County Contractors, Inc.
Backhoe power-line case remanded under crane precedent
OSHA alleged that Suffolk County Contractors willfully violated the ten-foot power-line clearance rule while operating a backhoe. The judge vacated the citation because he found the crane-and-derrick standard inapplicable to backhoes and did not reach the merits. After that ruling, the Commission…
Universal Roofing & Sheet Metal Co.
Roof-edge PPE citation remanded under current precedent
OSHA cited Universal Roofing after an employee worked near a roof edge without personal fall protection. The judge vacated the citation, reasoning that the roof was safer than a temporary floor allowed by the safety-net rule and that a sloped-roof provision displaced the general PPE standard. The…
Easley Roofing & Sheet Metal Company, Inc.
Roof-edge and stairway items remanded
The judge found that Easley Roofing employees used a stairway with inadequate railings but classified the violation as de minimis. He also vacated a citation alleging that employees worked near a roof edge without personal fall protection because he placed the burden on the Secretary to prove that…
Republic Roofing Corporation
Roof-edge PPE citation remanded under revised burden rule
OSHA originally alleged that Republic Roofing failed to guard a roof perimeter, then amended the case to allege that employees lacked personal fall protection. The judge vacated the amended PPE citation because he placed the burden on the Secretary to plead and prove that the equipment was…
Richard Rothbard, Inc.
Default affirmed after missed hearing
Richard Rothbard timely contested a repeated citation and a notification of failure to correct, but neither the company nor its counsel appeared at the scheduled hearing. Counsel later attributed the absence to a mistaken belief that the hearing had been postponed. The judge found no good cause to…
Automatic Sprinkler Corporation of America
Repeat-serious mobile-scaffold violation affirmed
An Automatic Sprinkler employee worked from another subcontractor's mobile scaffold about 11 to 12 feet above a concrete floor without required guardrails or toeboards. The company had supplied a ladder and generally instructed employees not to use other employers' equipment, but it had not…
Amforge Division, Rockwell International
Hydraulic-press guarding violation affirmed
Amforge used a large hydraulic press to straighten bent axle forgings. Employees placed their hands near or within the point of operation while one hand could remain on the control handle, and some forgings had to be held until the ram made contact. The Commission found that this evidence…
Massman-Johnson (Luling), a Joint Venture
Witness-statement dismissal reversed
OSHA issued a willful-serious citation after an employee fell from a barge into the Mississippi River, and the judge later dismissed the case when the Secretary refused to disclose prospective witnesses' statements before hearing. The Commission held that the government's informer privilege can…
Edgewater Steel Corporation
Pre-1971 overhead-crane items vacated
OSHA cited Edgewater Steel under several overhead and gantry crane provisions. The company sought summary judgment because its cranes had been installed before August 31, 1971. The Commission held that the cited provisions derived from ANSI construction-and-installation requirements that were only…
General Dynamics Corporation, Electric Boat Division
Pre-1971 crane items vacated
OSHA issued General Dynamics numerous serious and nonserious items under the overhead-crane and mobile-crane standards. The company sought partial summary judgment because the equipment had been constructed and installed before August 31, 1971. The Commission held that the cited provisions…
General Motors Corporation, Central Foundry Division
Federal failure-to-correct authority upheld in Michigan
Federal OSHA cited General Motors for excessive respirable dust in 1974 and set a final abatement date in 1976. After Michigan's state plan became operational, federal OSHA reinspected the plant and issued a failure-to-correct notification. General Motors argued that the state plan agreement had…
Interlake, Inc.
Six pre-1971 overhead-crane items vacated
OSHA cited Interlake under six overhead and gantry crane provisions. The company showed through testimony and business records that the cited cranes had been constructed or installed before August 31, 1971, and the Secretary did not rebut that evidence. The Commission held that the cited provisions…
Sitkin Smelting & Refining, Inc.
Default judgment affirmed without review
The judge dismissed Sitkin Smelting's notice of contest after the company failed to answer the Secretary's complaint or comply with an order directing an answer. That ruling affirmed two citations and proposed penalties totaling $11,600. The Commission directed review of whether the notice of…
Wander Iron Works, Inc.
Scaffold, ladder, and housekeeping violations affirmed
A Wander Iron Works foreman worked 15 feet above ground on a bracket scaffold without required guardrails and with his safety belt untied. Another employee worked from a nearby ladder at the same height without a safety belt or other fall protection. The foreman's knowledge was imputed to the…
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Five shipyard violations reclassified as repeated
Bethlehem Steel was cited at its Beaumont shipyard for an uninterrupted fixed ladder without required platforms, flexible electrical cords run through a wall opening, unguarded deck openings, poor housekeeping, and a suspended load passing over an employee. The judge affirmed the conditions but…
J. L. Foti Construction Co., Inc.
Scaffold violation reclassified as repeated
J. L. Foti employees worked from a scaffold more than 14 feet above ground and from a connected runway without complete guardrails. An earlier uncontested citation under the same standard involved another unguarded scaffold and had become a final Commission order. The judge treated the new…
Wright and Lopez, Inc.
Repeated-serious trenching violation affirmed
Wright and Lopez was installing utility cable when a roughly 10-foot-deep trench in unstable soil collapsed and buried an employee to his shoulders without causing serious injury. The trench had vertical walls and incomplete shoring that did not extend to the bottom. The Commission held that the…
O.E.C. Corporation
Three violations affirmed without warrant review
An OSHA inspection conducted under a warrant produced three nonserious citations against O.E.C. Corporation. The judge affirmed the violations and assessed penalties of $100 and $175 for two items, while concluding that the Commission lacked authority to evaluate the warrant. Review was directed on…
Brown-McKee, Inc.
Ladder, roof-edge, and floor-opening violations affirmed
Brown-McKee left an unsecured ladder available between roof levels where employees were working. Employees also pulled materials onto a roof 54 feet above ground without safety belts, lifelines, or perimeter guardrails. Three separate floor, ladderway, and hatchway openings exposed employees to…
Duquesne Light Company; Vecellio & Grogan, Inc.
Late-report dismissals reversed
Three cases were consolidated for review after the judge dismissed citations because the Secretary did not timely file reports of prehearing conferences. The cases involved a vehicle reverse-alarm item, first-aid-kit items and a failure-to-abate notification, and a lockout-related general duty…
I.B.E.W. Local 1031 (Stewart-Warner Corporation)
Prior final order vacated on court remand
The Seventh Circuit remanded the Stewart-Warner case to the Commission. Treating the appellate judgment as law of the case, the Commission vacated the administrative law judge's May 25, 1979 decision, which previously had become a final Commission order. The order does not identify or decide an…
Cargill, Inc.
Grain-hazard citation vacaturs affirmed without review
The judge vacated two general-duty citations involving static-collecting devices on grain conveyor belts and openings between grain bins. Review was directed on the merits and on whether fire-protection standards could show industry recognition of the alleged hazards. The Secretary stated that the…
Rebco Steel Corporation
Commission refuses to reopen two default judgments the company let become final
Rebco Steel Corporation was cited by OSHA twice in 1977. Its vice president filed notices of contest, but the company then never filed the required answers to the Secretary's complaints and never responded to the Commission's orders to show cause. As a result, an Administrative Law Judge dismissed…
Masonry Contractors, Inc.
Fall-protection items affirmed and saw-grounding item vacated
Masonry Contractors employees worked on the seventh floor near unguarded shafts, floor holes, open sides, and a material-hoist landing. The subcontractor did not inspect the floor, warn its employees, request correction by the general contractor, or use realistic alternative protection, and it…
Forest Park Roofing Company
Flat-roof PPE violation affirmed
Forest Park employees worked within one foot of the edge of a flat roof 27 feet above ground without guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall protection. The Commission held that the construction PPE standard applies to flat-roof work and that the Secretary identified a feasible belt-and-lifeline…
S & H Riggers & Erectors, Inc.
Panel-installation fall-protection violations affirmed
S & H Riggers employees guided precast concrete panels near unguarded building edges at two Atlanta construction sites, about 60 feet and 25 feet above the ground. The Commission rejected the employer's inspection-representation challenge because it did not show that the lack of a representative…
Lloyd C. Lockrem, Inc.
Prior final order vacated under the court of appeals mandate
The Ninth Circuit entered an order on December 12, 1979, concerning the prior final order in this case. In response to that judicial mandate, the Commission vacated the administrative law judge's decision that had become final on May 12, 1978. The Commission did not address the underlying citation…
Cement Asbestos Products Co.
Asbestos citations reinstated after pleading dismissal
OSHA cited Cement Asbestos Products for a general duty clause violation and multiple asbestos-control, respirator, clothing, monitoring, and related violations. The company sought extensive details about sampling, exposures, asbestos type, engineering controls, and abatement through a motion for a…
Daniel International Corp.
Pre-Barlow's inspection evidence remained admissible
OSHA inspected Daniel International's Missouri power-plant construction project in 1977 without a warrant, before the Supreme Court's 1978 decision in Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc. Daniel sought to suppress the inspection evidence, arguing that its project manager had not voluntarily consented and had…
Harshaw Chemical Company
Citation withdrawal remanded for union participation
OSHA cited Harshaw Chemical for serious respiratory-protection and contaminant-exposure violations, then moved to vacate the citation after concluding that testing samples had been improperly counted. The International Chemical Workers Union elected party status while that motion was pending. The…
Brown & Root, Inc.
Rock-crusher platform guarding violation affirmed
Brown & Root operated a rock crusher at a nuclear power plant construction site. A demolition-machine operator worked on a small platform with two unguarded openings above a moving conveyor that led to the crusher. The Commission allowed OSHA to amend the citation from a general-industry…
Diamond Roofing Company, Inc.
Roof fall-protection case remanded for defenses
Diamond Roofing employees installed roofing on a narrow pedestrian walkway about 27 feet above a concrete sidewalk and a heavily traveled road. They worked near the roof edge without safety belts, nets, guardrails, or any other listed fall protection. The Commission held that the permanent metal…
Armstrong Cork Company
Defective tilt-table safety switch violation affirmed
Armstrong Cork used a hydraulic tilt table beside a paper rewinder, and an employee was fatally crushed when the table rose with a defective safety switch left in the raise position. The Commission held that the pulp and paper standards cited by Armstrong did not preempt the general duty clause…
Amoco Chemical Corporation
Noise-abatement extension remanded for hearing
Amoco sought a second extension of the abatement deadline for a final noise-standard citation. The Secretary said he lacked enough data to support or oppose the request and asked for a hearing, but the judge treated that position as no objection and granted the extension. The Commission held that…
Babcock & Wilcox Co.
Settlement agreement approved
Babcock & Wilcox, the Secretary of Labor, and the employee representative submitted a stipulation and settlement agreement dated February 8, 1980. The Commission approved that agreement. The official order does not describe the citations, standards, settlement terms, or any penalty disposition.
University of Pittsburgh
Political-subdivision exemption rejected
OSHA cited the University of Pittsburgh's printing shop for inadequate exit capacity and an unguarded horizontal belt drive. A judge vacated the items after finding that Pitt was a political subdivision excluded from the OSH Act's definition of employer. The Commission reversed because Pitt was not…
Colonnade Cafeteria
Contest reinstated after posting lapse
Colonnade Cafeteria timely contested three OSHA citations but did not submit proof that it had posted the notice of contest for employees. Its attorney said the proof card mailed to the employer was not received, the manager was on vacation, and the omission was unintentional. The Commission held…
International Harvester Company
Divided Commission leaves noise settlement approved
OSHA cited excessive noise affecting salaried testers and engineers in International Harvester's endurance-testing corridor. A settlement required the company to withdraw its contest and install an acoustical ceiling over that corridor, but a union representing mechanics objected that the plan did…
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.