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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Texas A.C.A., Inc.
Commission affirms vacatur of all scaffold citations because a diligent contractor did not know of conditions other trades kept disturbing
Texas A.C.A., Inc. was the plastering contractor on a four-story hospital construction project in Bedford, Texas. Texas erected the tubular welded frame scaffolding around the building, but other contractors used it too and frequently moved or removed the planks without telling Texas, so Texas had…
Metric Constructors, Inc.
General contractor held liable for subcontractor hazards
Metric Constructors was the general contractor for a 29-building federal prison project covering about 200 acres in Estill, South Carolina. OSHA cited scaffold, trench, hazard-communication, fire-extinguisher, compressed-gas-cylinder, and trench-access conditions created by subcontractors whose…
Sal Masonry Contractors, Inc.
Ladder item vacated and guardrail violation made willful
Sal Masonry Contractors was cited for ladder and scaffold violations during masonry work on an academic building at Cornell University. The Commission vacated the scaffold-access item because the testimony conflicted over whether a ladder was present and whether supervisors knew employees were…
J.L. Foti Construction Co., Inc.
Three construction items affirmed, one vacated
J.L. Foti performed masonry work as a subcontractor on a hospital project and objected when OSHA inspected its enclosed elevator-shaft work area without a warrant. The general contractor consented to the inspection, but the two Commission members divided on whether that consent overrode Foti’s…
Gil Haugan d/b/a Haugan Construction Co.
Scaffold and improvised-lifting violations affirmed
At one construction site, subcontractor employees used a scaffold without guardrails or safe access and with planks extending too far or too little beyond their supports. The Commission held Haugan responsible as general contractor because the obvious violations were conditions it could reasonably…
Rodney E. Fossett d/b/a Southern Lightweight Concrete
Scaffold ruling modified
Fossett's employees applied stucco from a tubular scaffold about twelve feet above the ground. The citation used the wrong scaffold-plank provision, but the hearing evidence addressed the correct requirement that planks extend at least six inches over their end supports. The Commission held that…
Hullenkremer Construction Co., Inc.
Scaffold penalty reduced
A Hullenkremer employee washed a newly erected school wall while standing on a scaffold 16 feet above the ground with no guardrails or toeboards. The company president admitted that the condition violated 29 C.F.R. § 1926.451(a)(4), but explained that a mason had removed normally used guardrails…
Northwestern Insulation Co., Inc.
Scaffold violations and walkaround inspection affirmed
Northwestern Insulation employees worked from multilevel scaffolding while covering heat-exchanger towers on a roof about 30 feet above the ground. The judge affirmed violations involving missing guardrails and toeboards, excessive plank spans, and excessive plank overhang, with total penalties of…
McConnell and Johnson, Inc.
Scaffold penalty reduced to $300
McConnell and Johnson used a long tubular scaffold while employees sandblasted a building 20 to 35 feet above the ground. The scaffold lacked standard railings and toeboards, had missing or unsecured braces, rested in places on concrete blocks, and included gaps and unsecured planks. The company…
Standard Glass & Supply Co.
Serious scaffold citation affirmed with low penalty
Standard Glass & Supply installed exterior glass and metal panels at a two-story building in Tennessee. OSHA found one employee briefly working about 20 feet above the ground on a scaffold without guardrails or toeboards and with nonconforming planking and bracing, while two employees lacked…
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.