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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Carling Electric, Inc.
Settlement affirmed after employee-service issue became moot
Carling Electric contested one item of a non-serious citation carrying a proposed $40 penalty. The parties settled by extending the item's abatement date to November 1, 1974, and asking that the citation and penalty be affirmed. The record did not show that affected employees received the…
Kisco Company, Inc.
Welding equipment citation vacated for lack of proof
Kisco fabricated coil and sheet metal products at a Missouri plant. OSHA cited the company after a maintenance electrician was fatally shocked while repairing a side seam welding machine, alleging violations involving its disconnect switch and maintenance practices. The judge found that the switch…
Hartwell Excavating Co.
Mixed ruling on blasting, equipment, and noise items
Hartwell Excavating was cited for eight nonserious violations involving explosives, equipment guards and alarms, and occupational noise at an Idaho sewer project. The Secretary moved to withdraw citation items 1 through 4 after the judge's decision. The Commission allowed withdrawal of items 2…
Donovan's Blacktop, Inc.
Settlement affirms citations and reduces penalties
Donovan's Blacktop faced citations from inspections of its garage and two Massachusetts construction sites. The cited conditions included poor housekeeping, improper electrical grounding, an unsupported trench, missing eye protection, and gasoline carried in an unapproved container. The parties…
Allstate Trailer Sales, Inc.
Penalties reassessed after citations became final
Allstate Trailer Sales manufactured recreational vehicles at a Seattle plant. OSHA issued a serious citation involving unguarded saws and an eleven-item nonserious citation covering posting, recordkeeping, machine guarding, electrical grounding, and eye protection. Allstate's timely notice…
Garland Call Pole Co.
Two final violations restored and one item vacated
Garland Call Pole operated a small Idaho pole yard where OSHA cited unguarded debarker components, flammable liquids near welding and cutting equipment, and inadequate protection for a debarker operator. Garland timely contested only the penalties for the first two violations, then attempted to…
Laminating Services
Failure-to-abate penalties reduced to $400
Laminating Services manufactured wood and vinyl wall covering at a Kentucky plant. It did not timely correct final citation items involving unguarded machine points of operation and unguarded sprocket wheels and chains. The company sought an extension only after the abatement deadline, and the…
Robert E. Lee Plumbers, Inc.
Exposing subcontractor held liable for site hazards
Robert E. Lee Plumbers was the plumbing subcontractor on a project involving four six-story residential buildings. Its employees had to move throughout the site and were exposed to debris, unguarded wall openings, and stairways without railings. The Commission held that the company could be cited…
Consolidated Pine, Inc.
Settlement preserves repeated classification
Consolidated Pine contested a $90 repeated violation involving a work platform and a willful-serious violation involving unguarded trim saws. The parties settled by reclassifying the saw violation as serious, reducing its proposed penalty from $5,400 to $1,000, and allowing the company to withdraw…
Petrolane Offshore Construction Service, Inc.
Maritime work citations affirmed under OSHA coverage
Petrolane performed offshore construction and ship repair work at a Louisiana site, including conversion of a barge and sandblasting a drilling-platform structure. OSHA issued seventeen nonserious citation items covering recordkeeping, cranes, abrasive blasting, compressed-gas cylinders, scaffolds…
Paccar, Inc.
Press-brake guarding violation affirmed, tank-roll item vacated
Paccar used a tank roll machine and eight press brakes to form metal parts at a truck manufacturing facility. The Commission found that the press brakes lacked point-of-operation protection and that guards over their power-transmission components did not address that separate hazard. It held that…
Cooper Industries, Inc.
Spray-booth penalty restored to proposed amount
Cooper Industries operated a small Ohio metal fabrication, welding, and painting plant. The citation included items involving respirators, a dip-tank railing, a forklift horn, spray-booth ventilation, and combustible residue in a spray booth. On review, the Commission declined to decide whether the…
All United Rent
Trench citation vacated as unpreventable occurrence
All United Rent supplied a backhoe and an experienced operator for excavation of a sewer-connection trench in Utah. The trench was about 18 feet deep, had steep unsupported sides, and collapsed while the operator and two other workers were inside. OSHA cited the equipment lessor for failing to…
Horowitz Bross., Inc.
Serious trench citation vacated for lack of proof
Horowitz was laying water pipe in a trench that was about 88 feet long, roughly six feet deep, three feet wide at the bottom, and seven feet wide at the top. OSHA alleged that the trench violated the rule for hard or compact soil because it was not adequately shored or sloped. The Commission held…
Pollard, Inc.
Excavation citation affirmed and penalty reduced
Pollard installed concrete pipe in wet, sandy-clay excavations near a heavily traveled Utah highway. Two employees worked in excavations whose walls were not protected by shoring, adequate sloping, or another equivalent method. The Commission affirmed the violation because the employees were…
Isaacson Structural Steel Co.
Fall-protection citation vacated where cited methods were infeasible
Isaacson erected a structural-steel A-frame over water as part of a log deck at an Alaska paper mill. One employee worked at the top of the frame while two welders worked from a float scaffold, all more than 25 feet above the water. The Commission rejected the Secretary's late request to apply the…
Safeway Stores, Inc.
Wheel-chocking citations vacated on joint motion
Safeway received multiple nonserious citations for failing to block or chock truck wheels while powered industrial trucks boarded them. Safeway had raised but then waived a defense that Department of Transportation regulation displaced OSHA authority over the working conditions. After the…
F. F. Green Construction Co., Inc.
Serious trench citation and $900 penalty affirmed
F. F. Green installed a water main in an Alaska trench that was about eleven and a half feet deep in wet, sandy, unstable soil. At least two employees worked where the trench was not adequately shored or sloped, and the citation also included ladder-access and flammable-liquid-container items. The…
D.R. Johnson Lumber Company
Edger-guard charge vacated for lack of employer knowledge
D.R. Johnson operated a sawmill where an edger's power-transmission guard was removed and replaced several times during adjustment work. The edger was later operated while the guard and maintenance workers were absent, but the record did not show that company supervisors knew or reasonably could…
Adams & Mulberry Corp.
Trench violation reduced from willful to serious
Adams & Mulberry installed underground conduit in a narrow Louisville trench that was eight to ten feet deep, had vertical sides, and contained unstable soil and water. Two inexperienced employees entered beyond the completed shoring while positioning additional plywood sheets, and one employee was…
Weyerhaeuser Company
Life-jacket citation affirmed without penalty
Weyerhaeuser's boom men worked on logs, boom sticks, and walkways at a Washington log pond without wearing required buoyant devices. The company had supplied life jackets and encouraged their use, but most organized employees resisted wearing them and had previously stopped work over the issue. The…
Julius Nasso Concrete Corp.
Construction-site fire, floor-opening, and crane citations affirmed
Julius Nasso was a concrete contractor on a New York project involving three twelve-story buildings. OSHA cited inadequate firefighting equipment, unguarded floor openings, and an unbarricaded crane swing radius. The judge found that the available water equipment did not cover the required floor…
Park Construction Co.
Crane-lubrication citation affirmed under excavating standard
Park Construction used a crawler crane for excavation work while an employee lubricated its suspension system. The revolving superstructure remained in operation, and the employee was struck by the rear of the cab and died. The Commission held that the crane standard originally cited applied to…
Tobacco River Lumber Co.
Mixed ruling on thirty sawmill citation items
Tobacco River operated a Montana sawmill and planing mill that received a thirty-item citation covering housekeeping, stairs, protective equipment, fire safety, tools, gas cylinders, machinery, and electrical conditions. The Commission upheld the inspection because a company employee with authority…
Sheet Metal Specialty Co.
Press-brake guarding citation affirmed
Sheet Metal Specialty used a press brake to form metal ductwork in its Virginia fabrication shop. The operator and helper held sheets by hand with one hand as close as six to twelve inches from the unguarded point of operation. The Commission held that the general point-of-operation guarding…
Danco construction Company
Mixed ruling on sewer-work citations and penalties
Danco received consolidated citations from three Little Rock sewer-construction sites involving posting, hard hats, fire protection, fuel handling, trenching, electrical equipment, ladders, traffic visibility, and spoil placement. The Commission held that Danco's timely contest of a citation also…
Wilmorite, Inc.
Construction citations withdrawn with prejudice
Wilmorite was adding six floors to an existing building in Syracuse, New York. OSHA cited an unguarded tenth-floor perimeter, a short ladder extension, unguarded floor and ladderway openings, and construction debris. The judge vacated the citations after finding, among other things, that the…
Garrison & Associates, Inc.
Press-brake guarding citation restored
Garrison custom-fabricated sheet metal with two press brakes whose points of operation were unguarded. An employee was observed forming a small piece with his hands close to the operating point, although holding tools were available for small pieces. The judge vacated the guarding item after…
Leon Marrano & Sons, Inc.
High-rise fall and head-protection citations affirmed
Leon Marrano was the concrete subcontractor on a nineteen-story apartment project in New York. Employees working with flying forms on the tenth floor moved around the forms by swinging partly over the building edge without safety belts or lifelines. The judge found that the company had not…
Island Steel & Welding, Ltd.
Safety-belt citation affirmed under protective-equipment rule
Island Steel assigned two employees to weld steel members while standing on top of a wall at heights of about sixteen to twenty-five feet. They had no safety belts or other fall-protection device, and the company superintendent knew they were working without belts. The Commission held that the…
General Electric Company, Inc.
Mixed ruling on extensive turbine-plant citations
OSHA issued General Electric numerous serious, nonserious, repeated, and willful citations after inspecting its Schenectady steam turbine and generator facilities. The Commission affirmed or restored violations involving ladder safety, portable tools, welder fall protection, housekeeping, fire…
Smith's Transfer Corporation
Wheel-chocking case remanded after summary dismissal
Smith's Transfer was cited for failing to chock the rear wheels of trucks or trailers while powered industrial trucks boarded them at a Pittsburgh facility. The company moved to dismiss on the ground that Department of Transportation regulations displaced OSHA authority over the working conditions…
Dravo Corp.
Toxic-paint spray citations vacated for lack of timely proof
Dravo manufactured and repaired river barges at a Pennsylvania boat yard. OSHA cited the company over respirators, hazard information, employee instruction, and protective clothing for workers allegedly spray painting Tectyl-400B in confined barge spaces. The judge found that the Secretary did not…
Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Inc.; Nacirema Operating Company, Inc.;Holt Marine Terminal, Inc.; and International Terminal Operating Corporation of Ameriport
Mixed hard-hat ruling for port employers
Four Port of Philadelphia employers were cited because longshore employees did not wear required protective hats. The Commission held that the longshoring rule imposed a duty on employers and that incorporation of the referenced private consensus specifications was legally permissible. It also…
Kingery Construction Company
Forklift-platform hazard charge vacated, other items affirmed
Kingery used a platform attached to forklift forks to place an employee about eighteen feet above the ground for concrete-chipping work. OSHA alleged a serious general-duty violation because the forklift was unattended and the employee had no platform controls. The Commission affirmed vacation of…
Les Mares Enterprises, Inc.
Log-splitter citation vacated for lack of commerce coverage
Les Mares employed workers to clear land in Napa County and split removed trees into firewood. The company had considered using the land for grape production, but no vines had been planted and the intended use was never carried out. The only shown sales were local firewood sales within nearby…
California Stevedore & Ballast Co.
Serious overloading hazard affirmed, container item vacated
California Stevedore discharged cargo from the S.S. Samoa Bear in San Francisco. It attempted to lift a five-ton pontoon with two booms rigged in a configuration understood in the industry to have about a two-and-a-half-ton capacity, and the gear failed, dropping the pontoon near several employees…
Hoffman Construction Co.
Radial-saw guard citation affirmed with reduced penalty
Hoffman Construction used a radial arm saw at the Trojan Nuclear Power construction project without a guard covering the full lower portion of the blade. The company argued that the installed replacement guard created binding, kickback, visibility, and flying-fragment hazards. The judge found that…
Everhart Steel Construction Company, Inc.
Roof-edge and grounding citations affirmed
An Everhart Steel employee worked at the edge of a flat roof thirty-two feet above the ground, leaning over the side to pass siding and other material to workers on a scaffold. The roof had no perimeter guard or other protective device. The Commission held that the open-sided-floor standard applied…
L. E. Myers Co.
Live-line tool citation vacated for inadequate notice and proof
An L. E. Myers lineman was fatally electrocuted while working on an energized distribution line with a hot stick whose hook spring was broken. The citation alleged that the defective tool was used within the required clearance, while the Secretary later introduced evidence about failures to inspect…
Midwest Steel Fabricators, Inc.
Temporary abatement extension affirmed after its expiration
Midwest Steel Fabricators sought more time to correct two violations in an uncontested citation. The Secretary withdrew his objection to an extension through January 2, 1975, and the judge granted the request. The Commission affirmed the judge's decision without finding prejudicial error…
Irvington Moore, Division of U.S. Natural Resources, Inc.
Press-brake guarding violation reinstated
Irvington Moore manufactured sawmill machinery and used a press brake, an ironworker, and two saws at its Oregon plant. The Commission held that the general point-of-operation guarding standard applied to the press brake even though the specific mechanical power-press standard excluded press brakes…
Gem-Top MFG., Inc.
Press-brake and saw-guarding citations affirmed with reduced penalties
Gem-Top manufactured metal canopy tops for pickup trucks at its Clackamas, Oregon, plant. OSHA cited the company for operating a radial saw and swing cutoff saw without required guards and for operating two press brakes without point-of-operation guards. The Commission adopted the judge's ruling…
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Repeated scaffold citation vacated
A Bethlehem Steel electrical rigger fell to his death while performing maintenance work high above the floor on an overhead crane. OSHA alleged a repeated violation of the general scaffold rule and sought to add the general personal-protective-equipment rule because the employee was not wearing a…
Charles Cohen, Inc.
Trenching cases remanded for merits findings
OSHA cited Charles Cohen, Inc. for allegedly failing to shore, slope, or otherwise support trenches in unstable or soft soil at two Dallas worksites. The judge dismissed both serious citations because they were issued more than three working days after the inspections. The Commission reversed…
Charles Cohen, Inc.
Trenching cases remanded for merits findings
OSHA cited Charles Cohen, Inc. for allegedly failing to shore, slope, or otherwise support trenches in unstable or soft soil at two Dallas worksites. The judge dismissed both serious citations because they were issued more than three working days after the inspections. The Commission reversed…
Mid-Plains Construction Company
Roof-fall case reinstated after pleading amendment
OSHA alleged that Mid-Plains Construction employees worked on a roof more than 25 feet above the ground without adequate fall protection. The citation initially relied on the general duty clause, but the Secretary's complaint amended the legal theory to the construction safety-net standard while…
Betten Processing Corp.
General-duty crane citation vacated
Betten Processing used a crane to move scrap iron and steel at its Wisconsin facility. After the operator left the crane unattended with its engine running and its magnet resting on a scrap pile, the boom and magnet rotated into a truck cab and killed the driver. OSHA cited the company under the…
Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad Co.
Five nonserious items affirmed and three vacated
Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad argued that it was exempt from the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The judge rejected that position except as to recordkeeping charges, following Commission precedent involving another railroad. The judge affirmed nonserious citation items 1 through 5…
North American Rockwell Corporation
Asbestos citation vacated for lack of employer knowledge
North American Rockwell manufactured asbestos-containing brake linings at its Ohio plant. OSHA sampling found that a grinder operator was exposed above the asbestos limits, but the company had previously commissioned three tests near the same machine that found no contamination problem. OSHA…
Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, A Div. of United Aircraft Corp.
Locked-exit violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Pratt & Whitney assembled and tested rocket and jet engines in a large room that held as many as 150 employees and contained flammable liquids and several possible ignition sources. Six of the room's seven exits were locked for security, and employees were sometimes locked inside for ten to thirty…
Star Textile & Research, Inc.
Variances moot two contested citation items
Star Textile contested citation items requiring foreign-metal removal equipment on textile opener lines and overhead guards on powered industrial trucks. While the case was pending, the Secretary granted variances after determining that the company's alternative conditions were as safe as…
Sechrist-Hall Company
Three roof-safety cases remanded for merits decisions
OSHA issued serious fall-protection citations after Sechrist-Hall employees worked on three unguarded roof areas 16 or 22 feet above the ground. One site also produced a nonserious citation because a ladder did not extend 36 inches above the landing and had no grab rails. The judge vacated all…
Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
Serious utility-pole citation reinstated
Pacific Gas & Electric sent a crew to transfer electrical conductors and transformers from a known rotted pole to a new pole. The subforeman repeatedly instructed two linemen to secure the old pole, but did not verify that they had done so and allowed them to work on it for about an hour. When the…
Yellow Freight System, Inc.
Toe-protection citation affirmed at freight dock
Yellow Freight operated a Tulsa terminal where employees loaded and unloaded freight weighing up to 6,000 pounds. Freight frequently fell from stacks, and forklifts had run over employees' toes on numerous occasions, but most employees did not wear toe protection. The judge vacated the citation…
Clasten Vaughn, dba Vaughn Roofing Co.
Roof-edge protection citation reinstated
Vaughn Roofing employees worked as close as 18 inches from the edge of an approximately 80-foot-high roof without safety belts, lanyards, or other fall protection. The Commission reinstated the serious personal-protective-equipment citation because the employer accepted that fall protection was…
Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Co.
Forty-six citation items vacated as untimely
OSHA cited 46 alleged safety, health, recordkeeping, and posting violations at Illinois Central Gulf Railroad's locomotive repair facility in Paducah, Kentucky. The inspection was coordinated with the Federal Railroad Administration, and the proposed citation moved through regional and national…
Hydrate Battery Corp.
Lead overexposure affirmed as nonserious
Hydrate Battery manufactured lead-acid batteries at a small Virginia plant. OSHA sampled five employees for one eight-hour shift and found that each was exposed above the airborne-lead limit, with one result more than five times the limit. The Commission agreed that the standard was violated but…
Standard Transformer Co.
Paint-area abatement extension affirmed after deadline
Standard Transformer requested six additional months to correct citation items concerning paint spray areas after completing three of five areas and spending substantial sums on corrective systems. The Secretary did not oppose the request, and the judge extended the abatement date to January 1…
Getty Oil Co.
Untested pressure-vessel citation affirmed
Getty Oil had a fluid-booster pressure vessel fabricated for installation at a Texas oil and gas facility. The experienced field mechanic responsible for the work learned that the vessel had not been pressure-tested but installed it without telling the company. The vessel ruptured immediately after…
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.